I know several working class folks who grew up in the USSR who, while they admit it wasn't perfect, were very happy with how things were then and - although some of them are now onboard the Pravda train to looneyville & love Putin and believe the Russian Orthodox church line that Ukraine is led by baby-eating Nazi Pedophiles (not an exaggeration) - they admit things are much worse than they were then and place the blame squarely on moving away from communism & planned economy.

Because of strong social programs, they had access to good education, work & a high quality of life, and a level of recreation and leisure that seems wild to me as an American.

Communism is not a monolith. There are many tendencies. And YMMV depending on the folks in power, just like any system. Additionally, despots love to call themselves socialist/communist while doing nothing relating to seizing the means of production - look at Cambodia (Khmer Rouge) as an example.

Imagine if we asked folks "What's your experience been like living in a capitalist regime". Most people would think thats a weird question because of how many types of capitalist regimes exist. Your experience will vary wildly if you are from like rural Kenya vs the US vs Scandinavia.