What are Russians really like?

bobbyss · 01-07-2019 09:11PM #1

I don't know any Russians and couldn't really distinguish a Russian from any other eastern European. Have been looking at a civilian activist group called Stop a Douche bag whereby they put stickers on illegally parked cars in Moscow and St Petersburg. With the support of the government it seems.

The reactions of the car owners to getting the stickers to this group are quite interesting. I am of course relying on subtitles.

Hostile to a man and indeed a woman.
Almost everyone threatens violence. Some pull a gun. Yet the activists are slow to call the police in the face of these threats.
Constant references to the group as 'retards' and '******s' and other coarse sexual obscenities. Not just from young people but quite elderly also.
Many references to 'I'll get my gang to sort you out'.
Many demands from the car owners: 'Show me your passport'.
Maybe a patronizing attitude to those living outside Russia eg Ukrainians and other nationalities etc.
They seem to lack any semblance of manners and respect for law and order and seem not to have any understanding of civil society at all.
Police seem to be lazy and useless.

Has anybody actually lived in Russia and what are your experiences of the ordinary Russian? Does any of this make sense to you?

01-07-2019 09:12PM

They always seem to be in a hurry.

TheValeyard · 01-07-2019 09:14PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

They always seem to be in a hurry.

Well they were Stal'in for a long time.

dmc17 · 01-07-2019 09:17PM

TheValeyard wrote: »

Well they were Stal'in for a long time.

That's because they were driving Ladas

corner of hells · 01-07-2019 09:18PM

bobbyss wrote: »

I don't know any Russians and couldn't really distinguish a Russian from any other eastern European. Have been looking at a civilian activist group called Stop a Douche bag whereby they put stickers on illegally parked cars in Moscow and St Petersburg. With the support of the government it seems.

The reactions of the car owners to getting the stickers to this group are quite interesting. I am of course relying on subtitles.

Hostile to a man and indeed a woman.
Almost everyone threatens violence. Some pull a gun. Yet the activists are slow to call the police in the face of these threats.
Constant references to the group as 'retards' and '******s' and other coarse sexual obscenities. Not just from young people but quite elderly also.
Many references to 'I'll get my gang to sort you out'.
Many demands from the car owners: 'Show me your passport'.
Maybe a patronizing attitude to those living outside Russia eg Ukrainians and other nationalities etc.
They seem to lack any semblance of manners and respect for law and order and seem not to have any understanding of civil society at all.
Police seem to be lazy and useless.

Has anybody actually lived in Russia and what are your experiences of the ordinary Russian? Does any of this make sense to you?

My neighbour is Russian, he just cant get his head around hurling, he goes up to the GAA club , watches the senior games, has a few Guinness, watches hurling on TV even understands the rules but keeps asking why would anyone want to play hurling.
Nice bloke too , my dog likes him too.

That's all I know about Russians.

thequarefellow · 01-07-2019 09:20PM

So, you...

bobbyss wrote: »

don't know any Russians

But you say...

bobbyss wrote: »

They seem to lack any semblance of manners and respect for law and order and seem not to have any understanding of civil society at all.
Police seem to be lazy and useless.

And you probably wonder why Irish are regarded as slightly ignorant and uneducated abroad.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 01-07-2019 09:21PM

Check out bald and bankrupt on youtube for some enlightenment.

The average Russian is no different to you or me really. They have their fair share of lunatics and the anti gay thing is really ingrained. I wouldn't like to live there either tbh.

I know two Russians, one is sound as a pound and the other was raised in Israel, he's of the opinion that all Muslims need to be exterminated. We are not friends.

branie2 · 01-07-2019 09:22PM

Very fast

Sonny noggs · 01-07-2019 09:27PM

I have worked with a few Russians over the years, one had a weird leather hat. He left it in bathroom once to dry after it got wet in the rain. This was probably 18 years or more ago. But it might as well have been yesterday.

01-07-2019 09:29PM

I used to watch those videos too, but after a while I started to find them needlessly provocative.. not to mention their Putin connection undermining their 'douchebag' message for me

I think now if you went to any country in the world and started putting stickers on the cars of people, especially criminals you'd get similar reactions.

The Russians I know are a mixed bag, some very nice others total idiots, a lot of moronic machos and golddiggers

Sonny noggs · 01-07-2019 09:29PM

branie2 wrote: »

Very fast

Sergey Sirotkin wasn’t that fast, even if he was driving a crap Williams.

mikemac2 · 01-07-2019 09:29PM

I knew someone from Ukraine who got mighty insulted if you called them Ukrainian. No they were Russian

Maybe like a nationalist from Derry I suppose *shrug*

Sonny noggs · 01-07-2019 09:30PM

mikemac2 wrote: »

I knew someone from Ukraine who got mighty insulted if you called them Ukrainian. No they were Russian

Maybe like a nationalist from Derry I suppose *shrug*

Londonderry nationalists.

Bobblehats · 01-07-2019 09:30PM

You know what they say, take a Russian girl from the underground pipes of Novosibirsk put her in a pearly necklace and gown and she’ll be the belle of the ball

mad muffin · 01-07-2019 09:33PM

Are we talking about white or Black Russian?

Lackadaisical · 01-07-2019 09:33PM

Worked with several Russians over the years and it’s a bit like asking what are Eurasians like. It’s an absolutely vast place and people vary a lot.

My experience of them was they were very warm a good craic.

Don’t ever get into a drinking competition with them tho!!

briany · 01-07-2019 09:34PM

corner of hells wrote: »

My neighbour is Russian, he just cant get his head around hurling, he goes up to the GAA club , watches the senior games, has a few Guinness, watches hurling on TV even understands the rules but keeps asking why would anyone want to play hurling.
Nice bloke too , my dog likes him too.

That's all I know about Russians.

To relate hurling to a Russian, you could tell it's a bit like ice hockey, except it's not always as cold, you use a ball rather than a puck, and protective gear is a fairly recent development.

Bobblehats · 01-07-2019 09:35PM

mad muffin wrote: »

Are we talking about white or Black Russian?

There’s black russians?! Ew...

Only drink White Russians myself.

ILoveYourVibes · 01-07-2019 09:35PM

bobbyss wrote: »

I don't know any Russians and couldn't really distinguish a Russian from any other eastern European.

My best friend is Russian.

This makes me think of her. Her soul.

tim3000 · 01-07-2019 09:35PM

I visited St Petersburg and Moscow a few years ago. The locals are rather rude and uninterested in foreigners for the most part. They could easily pick up on the fact that I was foreign and their demeanour would change to gruff disinterest. However in balance with this I did meet some absolutely lovely people, these were predominantly younger folks though.

Weird country not tourist friendly in a large capacity.

The last encounter I had with a Russian was the lady who cleaned our sleeper cabin her words were simply "get out" haha

bobbyss · 01-07-2019 09:40PM

riffmongous wrote: »

I used to watch those videos too, but after a while I started to find them needlessly provocative.. not to mention their Putin connection undermining their 'douchebag' message for me

I think now if you went to any country in the world and started putting stickers on the cars of people, especially criminals you'd get similar reactions.

The Russians I know are a mixed bag, some very nice others total idiots, a lot of moronic machos and golddiggers

Yes they do become tiring I have to say. But I am amazed at the how deep the anti-gay references are. The references to minorities. The almost hysterical reaction to being filmed on a mobile phone. The almost mafia style approach to solving problems ie violence, gangs, guns, threats. Very macho culture from what I can gather. And yes I did think what the reaction of Irish people would be if someone put stickers on your car for driving on paths, not a common problem here but there it seems to be, but I don't think it would be quite as hostile.

McMurphy · 01-07-2019 09:40PM

Have a supplier who is Russian, been living in Ireland for ten years or so at this stage, he's a very likeable fella, nothing uniquely "Russian" about him tbh.

InTheShadows · 01-07-2019 09:41PM

They are in my experience a warm wonderful people. I spent a good 5 weeks in Russia on my travels riding my motorbike and they went out of their way to make me feel welcome without looking my payment. Although i have to say i only spent two days in Moscow and everyone there seemed to be in a hurry it was an amazing city and i always felt safe. I think we are programmed to hate them and view them as cold because of years of western propaganda that even goes on to this very day.

rossie1977 · 01-07-2019 09:43PM

I don't know if it's just confined to St Petersburg and Moscow but the average Russian aged 18-30 walking the street in those cities is very attractive.

Plumbthedepths · 01-07-2019 09:44PM

Work with a few and happy to call some of them friends. Great bunch of lads.

milehip · 01-07-2019 09:46PM

bobbyss wrote: »

I don't know any Russians and couldn't really distinguish a Russian from any other eastern European.

Has anybody actually lived in Russia and what are your experiences of the ordinary Russian? Does any of this make sense to you?

In Russia, Sense makes you!

Mad_maxx · 01-07-2019 09:48PM

Miriam Sticky Veteran wrote: »

Check out bald and bankrupt on youtube for some enlightenment.

The average Russian is no different to you or me really. They have their fair share of lunatics and the anti gay thing is really ingrained. I wouldn't like to live there either tbh.

I know two Russians, one is sound as a pound and the other was raised in Israel, he's of the opinion that all Muslims need to be exterminated. We are not friends.

More Russians relocated to Israel this past twenty five years than Americans, the real hardcore Jews

ILoveYourVibes · 01-07-2019 09:54PM

Highly intelligent. Highly socially and emotionally intelligent.

Great sense of humour.

Open friendly they will come up and shake your hand etc.

They can be naive.

Russians accept life challenges stoically, and with resignation. They can bear anything.

Not a great work ethic though.

There is a slight case of this and it is an attitude that pervades Russian politics business etc maybe a bit beyond.
Amorality: we were given one moral code in Soviet times. Now we’re being given exactly the opposite moral code. Neither is worth believing in. There is a lot of mess in Russia still.

They have a lot of self respect. Pride.

This is really noticeable though.
I found them very empathetic on a really personal level. I mean really personal sometimes within a little while of meeting me. I mean they owed me nothing I was a stranger.

A lot of former soviet countries will have an innate sense of do or do not say this. But it gets no more nuanced than that.

Russia on the other hand I find people do 'say it this way'.

Gimme A Pound · 01-07-2019 09:55PM

thequarefellow wrote: »

So, you...

But you say...

And you probably wonder why Irish are regarded as slightly ignorant and uneducated abroad.

Why would they probably wonder that? And they're one person, not the Irish.

But I agree, while there seems to be a macho culture prevalent in Russian society, there's bound to be much nuance among the millions and millions of individuals.

Every time on these threads though, there'll always be at least one person who says "Don't generalise", then go on to say sh1t things about Irish people... because THAT generalising is ok.

Franz Von Peppercorn II · 01-07-2019 09:57PM

Sonny noggs wrote: »

I have worked with a few Russians over the years, one had a weird leather hat. He left it in bathroom once to dry after it got wet in the rain. This was probably 18 years or more ago. But it might as well have been yesterday.

Why?

Is it still there?

Mad_maxx · 01-07-2019 09:59PM

Gimme A Pound wrote: »

Why would they probably wonder that? And they're one person, not the Irish.

But I agree, while there seems to be a macho culture prevalent in Russian society, there's bound to be much nuance among the millions and millions of individuals.

Every time on these threads though, there'll always be at least one person who says "Don't generalise", then go on to say sh1t things about Irish people... because THAT generalising is ok.

European and American PC ( or even liberal) culture never reached Russia, even the Poles have a more traditional view of male and female roles

What are Russians really like?

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