The Russian 180

Trying to be friendly in Russia gets you nowhere. To Russians, smiling at strangers only makes you look stupid. “Hello” and “How are you?” are most often unnecessary phrases and even “Thank you” can be skipped and replaced with a grunt or snarl. It’s not being impolite, it’s just being Russian and when in Russia, do as the Russians do and give others attitude before even considering befriending them. No other country knows how to turn enemies into friends like this one.

This Russian 180 has been omnipresent throughout our time here. We have met postal workers, hostel receptionists, ticket ladies, store clerks, and even old ladies in parks who are initially cruel bitches before changing their disposition completely and acting like sweethearts. I can’t figure out the precise cause for the turn around but the difference couldn’t be more dramatic.On a sunny day in the middle of St. Petersburg we came across a small park between apartment buildings and proceeded to play on the swing set. Despite Sara having a great time, two old ladies sitting on a bench barked at us to stay off the playground. They did not politely ask us to stay off the swings, they furrowed their wrinkly brows and yelled at us.

We stopped playing and walked over to sit next to the ladies on the benches. After a couple sentences their attitude toward us had flipped the classic Russian 180 and they were suddenly very sweet to us. We sat and talked to them for 20 minutes or so with Stephen as the translator.
The ladies had lived in St. Petersburg their entire lives and couldn’t explain the drastic changes their city has seen throughout the years. I can’t imagine the stories they can tell but also didn’t have the patience to listen to them speak Russian and not understand a single word.

Stephen helped the rest communicate with the ladies though and enjoyed the more pleasant second half of their turn around. Just another case of the Russian 180