vctenderness – spot on!
After I retired from BA I worked for IATA in Brussels in the late 1990s, and was part of a team trying to negotiate better routes across Siberia between Europe and Japan. The airlines wanted more northerly routes that were close to the Great Circle rather than the southerly routes that passed near Moscow. They also wanted a network of useable routes so that advantage could be taken day by day of the variability of the jet stream. Try asking for flexibility from ex-Soviet functionaries! They were nice enough as individuals but their mind-set was anything but flexible.
After one long day of negotiations we were wined and dined in a large opulent dining room. It had ornate cornices around the ceilings and magnificent chandeliers. Towards the end of the dinner, after rather too many vodka toasts, I was asked if I knew where we were. I said I didn’t. Our hosts then told me it was Stalin’s dining room by the racecourse. I responded by admiring the decorations and the chandeliers, and then asked if they would like me to tell them a story.
So, with suitable embroidery, I told the story of the BOAC crew and the chandelier. It all had to be done through interpreters, one of whom I was told had been an interpreter for Khrushchev. The upshot was they all loved it and laughed until tears rolled down their cheeks. And whenever I returned to Moscow (which was frequent) I was asked to tell the story again. It did much to break the ice.