This Is Russia

Most of us would not consider throwing trash out of our car. It is culturally imprinted on us. This imprinting by the old on the young is not all bad. It is how we learn. But each culture is different. 

I remember walking with my fiancé in Russia. She dropped something on the ground. I was horrified. She did not understand my concern. This was normal. There were, in fact, no trash cans to throw things away in as we are used to here. When she understood my concern she said that in America she would not litter.  

When in Russia you do as the Russians do was her idea. She has now adopted the American cultural imperatives with regard to litter. Seeing how clean (relatively) America was in its public spaces showed her how it should be. Of course her home in Russia was always spotless, but the public areas were, and are, a mess.

On our last trip to Russia we passed an informal dump. It was just a place near my mother-in-law's apartment. In America the landowner would have been forced to clean it up. As a landowner I have been forced to do this on two occasions. People just want to avoid the fees for the dump, and a neighbor is so convenient! My nephew did not even notice it. When we pointed it out to him he said, "This is Russia." 

Each country has good and bad aspects to its culture. But as the Hebrew proverb says: 

If everyone cleaned his own doorstep, all the streets would be clean.

How clean is your doorstep? Or is this Russia? 

I am posting this on the day we will leave for Russia, so no doubt if I am able I will blog from there. I have a number of posts ready to go and in a queue. If I am able I will post regularly from Russia, if the internet is better than it was last time! Hopefully there will not be an interruption in my vital blog posts! 

Oh, and any burglars that might be reading this, I have a house sitter!