I don't want to start a flame war but I do want to thank those who
replied and address a few points.
Thanks! And now on to -
Since it appears to be a big point people are making - I haven't been
here long at just over two years under my belt. To be fair I haven't
gone out much in this time as I came to Russia to be domesticated, but
I do want to show my guests the crazy nightlife Moscow is notorious
for. So far I haven't found it so any pointers would be much
appreciated. (Any "best" list to balance the "worse" list out?) And
yeah, I get that NYC is allegedly also moderately elitist.
As far as my assessment or comments go I can accept that I was a
little hasty. In the moment in question I will also be the first to
admit that I had overreacted a little.
But the facts as I presented them are the facts. I was actually
unaware that I needed a stamp, or that Papa's charged a cover after a
certain time. Even at the time the negligent manager should have told
me these things he failed. He also failed to even once look at me. I
suppose it's not customary to apologize or explain yourself in the
country where "the customer is lucky we decide to serve him" but it
would've earned a few brownie points in my book.
But this is actually what validates my posting here in the email list.
People rarely look for places where they are treated poorly and a wide
warning to a general audience is much more effective to get the info
where it needs to go. What's the incentive to seek abuse? Also,
someone who may want to go to Papa's inspite of my warning may avoid a
similarly ugly confrontation by heeding the advice about handstamps or
the cover. So everyone wins. Sorry if it feels spamish to some.
Also, it's not customary for all but the most brazen and cavalier in
my culture to want to return to a scene of offence with the desire to
spend money. To be frank I'd be embarrassed to show my face there again.
Also, how is one supposed to learn to speak Russian perfectly if when
you brandish imperfect Russian you are treated with disdain? Maybe
this is just a general gripe. But I have noticed that once I identify
myself as American I tend to be yelled at for being foreign less - so
I guess that's a plus. Anyway the guard was equally rude to my pretty
Russian-looking Russian friends so maybe I'm being paranoid about race.
However, given that the usual reasons for abuse are misconduct and
poor appearance, and since I couldn't conceive of any wrongdoing on
our parts I went ahead and assumed the only remaining variable, for
which other circumstances had inspired seemingly unexplainable
rudeness. FInally, we were dressed up - I thought semi casual meant
button-shirts and nice pants.
Regardless, I would define "expat-friendly" as forgiving of expats who
are trying to improve their Russian skills with real-life
conversation. Perpetually flaunting some fetishized foreign identity,
however vocationally convenient, just to receive some kind of fair
treatment begins to feel dirty and wrong after a while.
Thats my 66 kopeks.
PS I didn't get the Chesterfields reference. What's with that?
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