"Beware, the doors are closing": the earliest and latest passengers of the Moscow metro — and their stories

The very first and most recent visitors to the Moscow Metro explain why they found themselves in the subway so early in the morning (or so late at night).

"Pushkinskaya", 5:30

Alexandra: "I'm coming home from work. I work nearby as a dancer in a nightclub and I can actually afford to take a taxi home, but I prefer to save money. Today's working day went well, but it could have been better: it happens that tips reach up to 6 thousand rubles for 15 minutes of work — three dances in underwear, and about 15 thousand runs in a day. But soon, alas, I will have to quit: I have been combining night work with day study at the Faculty of Economics for six months and I feel that I will not be enough for a long time. Let me earn a lot less, but I will be able to study in peace. Now on the way, in order not to fall asleep, I will read a book about how to make a personal financial plan. In the future, I want to gradually invest money in some deposits and receive passive income, which I will spend on my family and children's education. What would I recommend investing money in now? Gazprombank. Sberbank. Public money is for a long time."

Ivan: "I was visiting my girlfriend, I took the booze that I brought two days ago from France, and now I'm going home, where my friends are waiting for me. We'll sit up all night: I'm not going to work tomorrow, because I got a sick day today. Without money, in a regular clinic. There are companies on the Internet that offer to apply for a sick leave retroactively. It's all complete bullshit, I checked. They do not give an official form, but some kind of their own. Even if you pay them money, it won't give you any guarantee."

"Prospekt Mira" (radial), 1:20

Abdul: "I'm going home. From a Japanese restaurant. I work there as a waiter. There weren't many tips today. A year ago, when I came from Kyrgyzstan and started working there, they gave me more. There is absolutely nothing for young people to do in Kyrgyzstan, and many people come here. There are no Japanese in cafes like ours. Maybe only the highest bosses are the brand chief. And so — Koreans, Kirghiz, Buryats and Kalmyks. No, sushi is not given for free, they offer to buy at a guest price. The crisis is still there."

Prospect Mira (radial), 5:30

Tatiana: "I'm going home from the fitness club. I work there as a laundress. Because of the cuts, they added jobs to us, but they are not going to pay extra for it. They say: if you don't like it, quit. Our fitness is the Gestapo. You can't get sick, you can't go on vacation, you can't say a word across. They are all newcomers in the leadership there and do not respect us, Muscovites. I used to be a music teacher, I taught piano, but I don't do it anymore, probably outdated. But children need to be helped, so we have to."

Dobryninskaya, 5:30

Sergey: "I'm going home after a day on duty. Plague head, hurry up I'd like to go to bed. I'm a security guard, guarding a parking lot with expensive cars. I've been working like this for a year, but I'm not used to this mode yet. I used to be a cook. I have not become a chef for 15 years, and I no longer have the desire to stand as an ordinary cook at the stove. It is believed that the cooks are white and clean, in fact, the opposite is true. The kitchen is cramped, the temperature is under forty degrees, the overalls are always dirty. Cooks are not considered people at all. Security is much better."

Nikolay: "There is a bookmaker's office nearby with nightly basketball broadcasts. That's where I'm going now, I'm going to bet on NBA matches. This is actually already a way of life. During the day I trade tools in the market, and at night I watch the game. I play by the trend. Most of all I bet on riding teams and a little bit on small ones, on average I play for amounts from 2 to 5 thousand a day. I can lose everything, or I can win a little. But you can't earn anything on this, you can only get the right emotions."

"Kropotkinskaya", 1:18

Sergey: "I'm going home from the go-kart club. Today, four 10-minute races were enough for me. To drive more, you need to keep in good physical shape — your hands get very tired from driving the map. Now I will rest and think about how I can help my friends in karting in the development of a Russian racing car. I am a design engineer by profession, I work at the Sukhoi Design Bureau, I participate in the creation of an engine for the Superjet 100, and I think my knowledge can be useful."

"Prospekt Mira" (koltsevaya), 5:34

Alexey: "I'm going home from the competition. My friends and I have our own bike club, and we ride around the city at night several times a month. I'm already tired of it in the afternoon — they almost spit in our backs, shouting that the suicide jerks have gone. It's quieter and more comfortable at night. During such trips, I feel like a double personality: during the day I study to be a lawyer, all so serious and calm, and at night I drive around the city in incomprehensible clothes. I'm going to come home now and see what's going on with my rubber. The wheels are very heavily inflated, it's hard to ride on these in the snow, you need to lower it a little.""Kropotkinskaya", 5:30

Marina Nikolaevna: "I'm going home from work. I worked for a day in the "Raspekay" tent, here, right in front of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The shift went very badly — the revenue is small. Firstly, it was very cold, so now almost no one stopped. And secondly, because of the inauguration of the new patriarch, the police fenced off the territory around the temple today, and we found ourselves in a cordon. A simple person could not approach us, only the riot police, and they do not buy anything, they have no money. The best dish we have is pancakes with caviar. But, unfortunately, they are rarely taken."