The decency of the Russian people

russian_american_handshakeThere is a lot of current political talk about the embarrassing DNC e-mails and possible Russian ‘hacking’. Since I’ve had a lot of personal and professional interactions with Russian culture and, in particular, Russian people, I feel obligated to share this important perspective with others for your edification. This is NOT my opinion on politics, just rather my experience.

Let me briefly describe from which I will share my perspective.

  • From a professional Russian perspective, I had worked with a Russian-headquartered company for roughly 4 ½ years and visited Moscow one time in 2012.
  • From a personal Russian perspective, I got to meet many great and sincere friends.

I have to be honest that my initial, stereotypical, assumption was that Russian’s would be war-mongering people from the former USSR. It’s just a fact that my only previous Russian experience was during the Cold War-era and maybe that’s your experience as well if you’ve not had a chance to interact with the Russian people directly. Whether this stereotype was true back in that era or not, I do not know. All I can speak of is my experience from 2011 until today.

So let me just summarize, in my opinion, the Russian people themselves because a whole society should not be stereotyped based on the actions of a few. Imagine if every American was stereotyped based on American leadership. The many Russian people I know are:

  • Nice, considerate and eager to learn about other cultures
  • Hard-working and extremely thorough to complete tasks
  • Strong in their conviction and well-reasoned
  • Love nature and the outdoors
  • Likes to take care of business first, then small-talk

In this modern-era of decisive politics, international and domestic unrest and a challenging economy, I share this personal perspective of the Russian people because they are people just like us. They care about others, they care about family and they work hard for the benefit of everyone.

I’m extremely grateful for my Russian friends.

Thanks (благодаря),

Kevin

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