Was it Jokes that Brought Down Communism?

[RZM]

6. Ok

So it's 1961 and Khrushchev is on a goodwill tour of the bloc. He stops at a small village in Romania to give a speech. He then leaves by car with his driver. Right outside of town, they pass a farmhouse and a pig runs into the road. The driver hits it and kills it. Khrushchev orders him to stop the car and says:

"This is bad. We're supposed to be on a goodwill tour. We can't just leave."

He hands the driver a wad of rubles and says:

"Go up to the farmhouse, explain what happened, and compensate them for the pig and give them something extra for their troubles."

So the driver disappears over a hill and goes to the farmhouse. After 15 minutes he's not back. Then a half-hour and then an hour. Khrushchev's alone in the car and starts to get really worried.

Finally, after 90 minutes, the driver appears over the hill, laden with all sorts of gifts. When he gets back to the car, Khrushchev shouts:

"What the hell is all of this? I told you to compensate them! Explain yourself!"

The driver responds:

"I don't know, sir. All I said was: 'I've got Khrushchev in the car and I killed the pig.'"