Facebook and Russians
I'm on Facebook. Yes. No, I'm not an addict. No, it does not run my life. I check it every few days, to see if anyone poked me or wrote on my wall or whatever. I barely ever write on people's walls. I don't accept invites to events or groups. In short, Facebook is next to nothing to me.
OK, now that that's over with, moving on to my actual post.
Taty recently joined this curious group called You know you're a "nice Russian girl" if... (you have to sign in to Facebook to see this one) There's a whole list of stereotypical things associated with being a "nice" Russian girl. Sort of like one of my favorites, What Kind of Asian are You? Now, this group sent shivers down my spine. Unlike most foreigners in America (don't know how foreigners behave in other countries), I don't hang out or associate with Russian people. You know what I'm talking about. There's that table in the cafe that you swear is actually Chinese territory. That group of Indian kids in front of you at the movie theater doesn't include people who've never heard of Murli Prasad Sharma. The black-leather-jackets walking by your office are all speaking Russian. I don't like big gatherings of Russian people for one reason: most of the Russian people I've met are nuts. There are a number of exceptions, of course. But there's such a high rate of weirdness, I just steer clear of that whole group-mingling thing.
What are the things that bug me about these Russians? Lets do it with a nice bullet-point list:
- The only people they know or socialize with are other Russian immigrants
- They care more about money than anything else
- They care more about image than anything else, except money
- They treat all-things Russian as the best-and-only choice (stick a Russian flag into a pile of manure and they'll follow it off a cliff)
- They never try anything non-Russian (try suggesting Italian for dinner or going out to dim sum)
- They despise other nationalities/cultures/whatever to the point of being offensive and racist (I once heard of a Russian immigrant complaining about immigrants from Mexico)
- They bitch and moan about how crappy America is and how the old country is the pinnacle of civilization
- They adore gaudy fashions: purple hair, too much make up, leopard-print shirts and a track suit are perfect church attire
If you're Russian and are offended by what I said, ask yourself, do three or more of the traits I've listed describe you? If so, maybe you should be more concerned about working on your own issues than with one stupid blog being written by an asshole in serious need of sleep.
Oh, and if you're one of those people whose opinion of themselves depends on what other people think about them, go jump off a cliff. That's what we all think you should do. It's certainly a better alternative to what you have going on right now.
4 comments:
sorry, I gotta post. you didn't say what to do if three or more were not true.
I have to say none of those are true about me. and most aren't even true about other russians I know. I'll grant you money and image are true for some, but the greatness of russia I think is only among people who didn't really grow up there so have an idealized view of it. The fashion think is entirely wrong as I find most russians dress more formally than the occasions calls for.
Fai.
Isn't there something wrong with apologizing for posting? The whole point of having a blog and not a simple here's-a-page-now-enjoy-it website is the fact that people can actually comment and respond to your varied nonsensical banter. Now...
I didn't say those were true about you. I didn't even name anyone that it's true about. I know that there are exceptions. I've met a lot of them and I'm grateful for that fact, as it proves that not all Russians are insane.
I speak of my own experience. I am specifically speaking of immigrants, so yes, that thing about having an idealized view of it is absolutely true (wait and see another Russian reply about this issue, if she'll ever read this post). Specifically, I was speaking of immigrants that I have met in Illinois. For just under a year we lived in this area that's practically bursting at the seams with Russians, and a very healthy portion of those fit at least some of the descriptions I've listed. The other 9 years of my life in Illinois I was fortunate to not encounter that many Russians, and the few that I did mostly don't fit into this category. Mostly. I still shudder about this one kid who went to his friend's birthday party in a track suit. Talk about perpetuating the stereotype.
Actually, maybe it's only Russian immigrants that immigrated to the United States? You and Michael, an intern I met, are both Canadians and clearly don't fit into this list.
I've got a whole theory about immigrants (Russian and non), but that'll have to wait for a later day.
This whole rant was not meant to offend anyone that I haven't met. That's just silly. It's also meant to not offend those who realize that I am not speaking about them. Like yourself.
Happy Wednesday.
yes in theory. but your post seemed to discourage comments.
you made a generic statement about russians. since I'm russian, I assume you meant me.
Perhaps it is a regional difference. Most of the russians I know got here by immigrating in the early 90's to Israel and then on to Canada some time in the mid 90's. Perhaps the Russians who moved to to the States chose a different path because they were different.
I wasn't offended. But you're making a generic statement about a whole nationality of people. As long as you realize you're overgeneralizing grossly, I'll be happy. There are ignorant Americans and illiterate Canadians but that does not make Americans ignorant or Canadians illiterate.
Now we're getting into a battle of semantics and what-I-said-was-this-and-what-I-meant-was-that.
I was only speaking of the Russians I've met. A fair share of them are nuts, and the rest are perfectly fine people with whom I would enjoy barbequing meat-based products on a non-cloudy day.
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