September 24
The first thing I heard when leaving Domodedovo airport was some guy swearing on the phone. Going down into the subway, I heard something similar a few more times. But what struck me most was that no one was smiling. People's faces were so gloomy, as if the Cold War was going on and a nuclear bomb could be dropped on us at any moment. No one said thank you when I gave up my seat or just let them pass.
I had to cough loudly twice just to get the shop assistants to stop chatting with each other and deign to sell me a bottle of water. The guy who asked for a cigarette didn't even thank me either.
This is all about behavior for now. We are boors. Compared to them. We are just like cavemen.
This is not an advertisement or agitation to participate in the Work and Travel USA program, but after living a summer in America, you will never look at the world the same way again. By the way, most J-1 Visa students called it Work and Work. Not many made it to the travel part.
So why do so many people around the world live and want to live there? Because they live better there, of course. But why do they live better? Americans print dollars, selling them as a commodity to other countries. Yes, they print them. They parasitize other countries, pumping out oil and other resources. Yes, that's true. By the way, all this money goes to the country and the people living in it. And it doesn't end up in the pockets of the elite. And yet, that's not the main thing.
They treat work differently. When I walk down the street and see two taxi drivers smoking while being called by a dispatcher, I hear a lazy dialogue: "Well, are you going to go earn 70 rubles?" "Nah, I can't be bothered, you go." If only they could see what happens when someone raises their hand on the road in New York. Taxi drivers are ready to tear each other apart just to get a client. Our waiters come to work, sit around, smoke, drink coffee. They set the tables slowly. But there, a waiter, along with a busboy, will carry piles of dishes, unload trucks with products, etc. And as soon as a free minute appears, they will immediately go to the manager and honestly tell them that they are finished and need more work.
And it's everywhere. An American knows that they get paid for every hour. And that's why they have to work. "Slacking off" – such a word doesn't exist in their head. They firmly know that if they work well (and it doesn't matter what they do), they will achieve success. We, on the other hand, look for direct benefit for ourselves first, and only then think about how we need to work. In this regard, we are diametrically opposed: they are ready to plow until they drop, expecting to achieve success, while we first want to get all the benefits for ourselves, and the work itself is secondary.
Not everything is so sad, of course. You know, I was happy for our country. Even if there were only two reasons for this joy. First: our girls are still some of the most beautiful in the world (on par with them are only Brazilians :)). Second: we are still a little bit smarter. And not just than Americans - everyone. Probably except for the Chinese and Jews. However, that is a separate topic for conversation, I don't want to delve into it, and I myself would like my opinion to be wrong.
When people found out that at 22 I was finishing university, that I was a programmer with work experience, and that I was even a co-founder of a limited liability company, they didn't believe me. And the fact that, with all this, I even know what year the Second World War started, shocked people. Although what is strange and surprising about that?
