RUB Mentality ?

[TBoneTX 43,017]

She won't ever give a straight answer because that might admit to me being right and lord knows we don't want that to ever happen. Everything around here that goes wrong is my fault...even the weather.

What's that feminist saying... "If a man speaks in the forest and no one is around to hear it, is he still wrong?"

Seriously, Victor's post above might explain the lion's share of it.

Edited January 7, 2013 by TBoneTX

[P A U L 14]

this is kinda funny...

my family thinks anything in the refrigerator lasts forever even for years after the expiration date.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

What's that feminist saying... "If a man speaks in the forest and no one is around to hear it, is he still wrong?"

Seriously, Victor's post above might explain the lion's share of it.

[Aviator56h 6]

D'ya think? Alla HATES Walmart (we do not have a super walmart, just a plain 'ol Walmart) and she won't buy anything there except cleaning supplies and .22 ammunition for her rifle and pistol ("best place for bullets")

You can lose her FOR DAYS in TJ Maxx. Bed,Bath and Beyond or the Mall but she does not like Walmart

she was overwhelmed by Lowe's at first and burst into laughter when she saw the "toilet aisle" ("Why do Americans need so many different toilets?")

Speaking of toilets, I like to have there system on there toilets that when you put the seat down? It goes down slowly (laughing). THAT'S AWWSSSUUUMMM !!!!

I made my list where I'm going to bring her first when she gets here.

1). I'm bringing her to an Ihop to taste what real pancakes are.

2). Eat lunch at a Cajun restaurant so she can try our boiled crabs and crawfish.

3). WAL MART !!!

4). Home Depot (first ale? The toilet ale first to see if she laughs too).

5). Our mall

6). Oh yes, bath beyond (she's a totalally a home maker....paka paka paycheck, laughing).

7). Bring her DOWN DE BAYOU to see all those houses on 15 foot in the air (down south because the land is 9ft below sea level, they have to build there homes 9 to 15 foot on stilts down here).

8). Last but not least, let her drive my dodge dully quad cab truck (this I can't wait to see because she's the only woman I know who can back a car up in very tight spots only using the mirrors).

Chad

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

[it's Victor from Russia]

Russians have iron stomachs or something

And I hear it from Americans who have here places like Steak&Shake, where people eat milkshakes right after burgers with pickles? Before seeing and trying it I always thought that milkshake after pickles will make everybody sick, because in Russia it's being "no-no".

D'ya think? Alla HATES Walmart

I hate Walmart either! We have superWalmart, and sometimes I have to visit it because it has big selection and I can found items I can't find anywhere else in my city, or sometimes they have great deals, but I really don't like to visit it and trying to leave as soon as I'm done with grabbing item I want. It's mostly about people there - I don't like "Walmart's public", because many of them acting not nice, it's a lot of unattended screaming kids and teens running around the store and playing with display toys or sport goods like basketball balls, and it's the biggest concentration of "trashy" people there among stores in our city, not mentioning that even some of Walmart's employees acting weird and creepy, like staring at you or throwing you bags to your cart like NBA players and acting as it's amusing game for them - it's real experiences. I don't want to tell that everybody in Walmart is weird, but too much of them to enjoy shopping there. I much more prefer to visit stores like Target where I feel myself surrounded with usual normal people.

Amy tried to prepare me to it showing me peopleofwalmart.com, and well, sometimes I see almost as bad views as on this site while visiting Walmart.

[Aviator56h 6]

[it's Victor from Russia]

And I hear it from Americans who have here places like Steak&Shake, where people eat milkshakes right after burgers with pickles? Before seeing and trying it I always thought that milkshake after pickles will make everybody sick, because in Russia it's being "no-no".

I hate Walmart either! We have superWalmart, and sometimes I have to visit it because it has big selection and I can found items I can't find anywhere else in my city, or sometimes they have great deals, but I really don't like to visit it and trying to leave as soon as I'm done with grabbing item I want. It's mostly about people there - I don't like "Walmart's public", because many of them acting not nice, it's a lot of unattended screaming kids and teens running around the store and playing with display toys or sport goods like basketball balls, and it's the biggest concentration of "trashy" people there among stores in our city, not mentioning that even some of Walmart's employees acting weird and creepy, like staring at you or throwing you bags to your cart like NBA players and acting as it's amusing game for them - it's real experiences. I don't want to tell that everybody in Walmart is weird, but too much of them to enjoy shopping there. I much more prefer to visit stores like Target where I feel myself surrounded with usual normal people.

Amy tried to prepare me to it showing me peopleofwalmart.com, and well, sometimes I see almost as bad views as on this site while visiting Walmart.

You must be at the "redneck" wal mart (laughing). Don't worry, I say 85% of wal marts are like this. Wait, the first time I visit Belarus, I was shopping for food when I went to the produce to get my wife her tomatoes. I GOT SHOVED ASIDE BY A LITTLE OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN 5 FOOT TALL !!! I'm like "WHAT THE HECK WAS THIS ABOUT"? I find people in the grocery stores (just a few of them) are what I called "grocery stor rage" (laughing). My wife seen this happen and just laughed at me. Heck, I pushed back a little at the little old lady (laughing). I got between here and another person (a blond hottie) and wedged her out the way to get my blang tomatoes (laughing). My wife tells me, that's how you have to be. Heck, getting on my connecting flight to Belarus (if they shuttle us by bus to the plane) you better know how to do the 50 yard dash from bus to plane !! They take off out that shuttle bus to that plane like a bunch of wild cats getting chased by a pack of wolves !!! (Laughing).. WOW ! What an experience for my first time.

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

Speaking of toilets, I like to have there system on there toilets that when you put the seat down? It goes down slowly (laughing). THAT'S AWWSSSUUUMMM !!!!

I made my list where I'm going to bring her first when she gets here.

1). I'm bringing her to an Ihop to taste what real pancakes are.

2). Eat lunch at a Cajun restaurant so she can try our boiled crabs and crawfish.

3). WAL MART !!!

4). Home Depot (first ale? The toilet ale first to see if she laughs too).

5). Our mall

6). Oh yes, bath beyond (she's a totalally a home maker....paka paka paycheck, laughing).

7). Bring her DOWN DE BAYOU to see all those houses on 15 foot in the air (down south because the land is 9ft below sea level, they have to build there homes 9 to 15 foot on stilts down here).

8). Last but not least, let her drive my dodge dully quad cab truck (this I can't wait to see because she's the only woman I know who can back a car up in very tight spots only using the mirrors).

Chad

OK, now it's Amy. Your mentioning the Ihop made me remember this commercial from 1969 for Ihop. Prepare to be weirded out!

But seriously, bliny are real pancakes, and they're awesome. We cook them a couple Sundays per month.

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

You must be at the "redneck" wal mart (laughing). Don't worry, I say 85% of wal marts are like this. Wait, the first time I visit Belarus, I was shopping for food when I went to the produce to get my wife her tomatoes. I GOT SHOVED ASIDE BY A LITTLE OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN 5 FOOT TALL !!! I'm like "WHAT THE HECK WAS THIS ABOUT"? I find people in the grocery stores (just a few of them) are what I called "grocery stor rage" (laughing). My wife seen this happen and just laughed at me. Heck, I pushed back a little at the little old lady (laughing). I got between here and another person (a blond hottie) and wedged her out the way to get my blang tomatoes (laughing). My wife tells me, that's how you have to be. Heck, getting on my connecting flight to Belarus (if they shuttle us by bus to the plane) you better know how to do the 50 yard dash from bus to plane !! They take off out that shuttle bus to that plane like a bunch of wild cats getting chased by a pack of wolves !!! (Laughing).. WOW ! What an experience for my first time.

[it's Victor from Russia] again. Yeah, I absolutely agree - in Russia you HAVE to be pushy and furious to not wait forever in stores, I just got spoiled by some US stores like Target or Sears where you usually don't have to worry that somebody will ride over you with shopping cart if you'll stand too long on the same spot. And in Russia it's kinda normal to "push" people in front of you in the queue, I can't tell I like it, but that happens everywhere - it feels like most Russians feel that if they will push each other to the direction of queue going, queue will go faster (horrible experience, if you have somebody with bad breath standing behind you and literally breathing to your neck thinking that if he/she will step backward, it will slow down queue ). Being Russian, I still don't catch it. Not mentioning how it's popular in Russia to take a place in the queue and then tell to people in front and behind you something like "I'll be right back, just will get few more things", then to continue shopping, and then to return when "your place" is almost near cashier and yell that "I've been here, it's my spot, I just left for a minute!", shoving people and squeezing in the beginning of the queue. So many people trying to abuse it either, telling that they took a place an hour ago in huge queue (like in the post office where you can wait your turn for 1-2 hours on a normal day) when they just arrived. I love how in the US it's usually rule "you left your place in the queue - you lost it, and nobody cares".

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

You must be at the "redneck" wal mart (laughing). Don't worry, I say 85% of wal marts are like this. Wait, the first time I visit Belarus, I was shopping for food when I went to the produce to get my wife her tomatoes. I GOT SHOVED ASIDE BY A LITTLE OLD RUSSIAN WOMAN 5 FOOT TALL !!! I'm like "WHAT THE HECK WAS THIS ABOUT"? I find people in the grocery stores (just a few of them) are what I called "grocery stor rage" (laughing). My wife seen this happen and just laughed at me. Heck, I pushed back a little at the little old lady (laughing). I got between here and another person (a blond hottie) and wedged her out the way to get my blang tomatoes (laughing). My wife tells me, that's how you have to be. Heck, getting on my connecting flight to Belarus (if they shuttle us by bus to the plane) you better know how to do the 50 yard dash from bus to plane !! They take off out that shuttle bus to that plane like a bunch of wild cats getting chased by a pack of wolves !!! (Laughing).. WOW ! What an experience for my first time.

Amy writing for this post (we're both logged on and share an account). We live in a little college town in the middle of Indiana, kind of a "hippie oasis," in a mostly pretty conservative state for sure, but Wal-mart is white-trash central in our town. I don't class rednecks with white trash because people who usually call themselves rednecks are still fairly productive citizens and act like they've got a bit of class in public. They're usually hard working people and I respect them, as long as they aren't the uber-judgmental, racist type. I'm talkin' the trashy chicks with half a dozen ugly, dirty, ill-behaved, stair-step kids in tow who wear dirty pajama pants 3 sizes too small so you can see her nasty thong (ewww), loading their cart down with Cheetos and Mountain Dew. If they have a dude with them, he's got a perpetual plumber's crack and copious tattoos that look like they were done on "the inside" if you know what I mean. They both look like they're in desperate need of a shower and a toothbrush. Their kids are all sticky, loud, and out of control. The toy department is their playground. Wal-mart makes me want to carry hand sanitizer with me and apply it constantly. It also makes me feel twitchy after being in there for longer than, say, 15 minutes. The noise, lights, and crowds really give me a huge headache and make me feel a small amount of panic. Even the super crowded farmer's markets and supermarkets in Russia NEVER caused me so much anxiety as Walrus-Mart. Even with the pushing and shoving, Russians are much better behaved shoppers than people who shop at Wal-fart. The prices and selection are the only reason we go at all, and we try to make it a once-in-awhile thing and get in and out QUICK.

The pushing and shoving thing? That's totally normal and socially acceptable in RUB countries. You just have to be really assertive and quick in crowds, and in situations where a whole group is moving from one form of transit to another, run! You have to be assertive to keep your place in line, too.

[Aviator56h 6]

OK, now it's Amy. Your mentioning the Ihop made me remember this commercial from 1969 for Ihop. Prepare to be weirded out!

But seriously, bliny are real pancakes, and they're awesome. We cook them a couple Sundays per month.

Yes, that video was creapy (lol). Well, my first time in Belarus, after a 17 hour flight and connecting flights, I got there very tired. All I wanted to do is sleep. We went to her moms first and it was morning when I got there. Her mom (I love her mom) offered me some pancakes.. I'm like " assume"!! It smelled good, it looked good. Couldn't wait to eat it. When she piled it in my plate, I asked for the butter and some syrup. She didn't know what I meant about the syrup part, but mom understood when I said maple syrup. But, they both looked at me kinda funny talking among each other in Russian. I figure it was just woman to woman chat..... No, it was more like " what the bang is he doing"!!! I put butter between layes of the pancakes, put a gunk of syrup on them, and took a big chunk of it and put in my mouth. When I did? All that went through my brain was "don't make a face, don't make a face, DON'T MAKE A FACE!!! What I did? MADE A FACE !!! What the...? It did not taste like the pancakes I was burned with. After they seen my face and has to swallow this concoction? They had to laugh at me. There pancakes was made of potatoes mashed into pancakes and fried in butter or cooking oil (laughing).. S, I joke with Alena (my wife) that the very first thing I will do is take to eat a real pancake (laughing)..

[Darnell 8,478]

Bad_Daddy - you have all this free time and yer not learning how to make sauce from scratch? What's up with you ? I'm so sad... for her...

[Amy_and_Victor 159]

[it's Victor from Russia]

There pancakes was made of potatoes mashed into pancakes and fried in butter or cooking oil (laughing).. S, I joke with Alena (my wife) that the very first thing I will do is take to eat a real pancake (laughing)..

Funny story, thanks for sharing!

Yeah, sometimes in RUB people make pancakes in unusual way, adding to the dough (or even replacing it with) mashed potato, porridge (like oatmeal or even buckwheat), shredded fruits or something else, but I'm not big fan of it and prefer classic RUB pancakes, made just with milk+flour+eggs+salt+sugar. They're very similar by taste with US pancakes, the only difference - dough is much more liquid so they baked VERY thin, and then you adding topping on each pancake and making a thin roll with topping inside. My favorite toppings are sour cream and sugar, or sweet condenced milk. And yeah, in RUB you barely will find a maple syrup - we don't have it there (unless imported in small amounts), but people in RUB often eat pancakes with honey.

Edited January 7, 2013 by Amy_and_Victor

[Aviator56h 6]

Amy writing for this post (we're both logged on and share an account). We live in a little college town in the middle of Indiana, kind of a "hippie oasis," in a mostly pretty conservative state for sure, but Wal-mart is white-trash central in our town. I don't class rednecks with white trash because people who usually call themselves rednecks are still fairly productive citizens and act like they've got a bit of class in public. They're usually hard working people and I respect them, as long as they aren't the uber-judgmental, racist type. I'm talkin' the trashy chicks with half a dozen ugly, dirty, ill-behaved, stair-step kids in tow who wear dirty pajama pants 3 sizes too small so you can see her nasty thong (ewww), loading their cart down with Cheetos and Mountain Dew. If they have a dude with them, he's got a perpetual plumber's crack and copious tattoos that look like they were done on "the inside" if you know what I mean. They both look like they're in desperate need of a shower and a toothbrush. Their kids are all sticky, loud, and out of control. The toy department is their playground. Wal-mart makes me want to carry hand sanitizer with me and apply it constantly. It also makes me feel twitchy after being in there for longer than, say, 15 minutes. The noise, lights, and crowds really give me a huge headache and make me feel a small amount of panic. Even the super crowded farmer's markets and supermarkets in Russia NEVER caused me so much anxiety as Walrus-Mart. Even with the pushing and shoving, Russians are much better behaved shoppers than people who shop at Wal-fart. The prices and selection are the only reason we go at all, and we try to make it a once-in-awhile thing and get in and out QUICK.

The pushing and shoving thing? That's totally normal and socially acceptable in RUB countries. You just have to be really assertive and quick in crowds, and in situations where a whole group is moving from one form of transit to another, run! You have to be assertive to keep your place in line, too.

I know exactly what your talking about concerning your adventures in wal mart (lol). I'm not putting down rednecks as a lower class people. But in Cajun land where I'm from, we got a few like that. Oh yes, very entertaining watching people shop in Belarus. But, I find that country very social people when you start to talk to them. Of course they roll there eyes at me when they find out I don't speak russian. Heck, that gal in that insurance booth at the Minsk airport sees me coming, she tries to close the booth down as I'm walking to it (laughing). My wife laughs at me because she sees I try to make the boarder people laugh or smile and I go down in flames (laughing). Not an easy task to accomplish there. But one boarder guy is very friendly with me and he has a silly bone to him. All I need is give him a pack of my brand of cigarettes I bring with me? And he's soo nice (laughing).. I also learning NOT TO CLAP for anything over there because now its a law that you can't because they think your protesting

[TBoneTX 43,017]

even some of Walmart's employees acting weird and creepy

I've met very few Walmart employees who aren't openly hostile toward their customers. I visit Walmart perhaps twice a year by choice, and only to buy oil filters for my car. Each time I go, I'm reminded why NOT to go, sigh man.

Another characteristic of U.S. retail practices is to have too few checkout stations open (this is not just at Walmart). Customers who are waiting to check out can be backed up halfway across the store, but no one will open another register, no man. This is bad for ice cream and other frozen purchases.

(Failure to open an adequate number of checkout stations probably cuts stores' sales, because of the usually overpriced "impulse-purchase" items in the displays by each register. Fewer open registers means fewer impulse purchases.)

Conversely, in Ecuador, it's rare to see an UNstaffed checkout station, even when customer traffic is light. It's also rare to be unable to find someone on the sales floor to help, in a department store particularly. Contrast this with the U.S., where it can take considerable time & effort to find anyone in ANY department.

Nevertheless, Ecu displays its third-worldiness when the KFC in the large mall's food court has no chicken, and the Taco Bell has no tacos, and the employees accept it with an "oh, well" attitude, si man.

[USSR 1]

Sooo, what's with the cold drink thing? My Yana (Ukraine) had a sore throat a while ago and, according to her, it was because she had a cold drink the day before. Lot's of superstitions that I guess I'll just have to get used to.

Don