Russian Linear Forms

Reflections on Russia - Russian Linear Forms
In Moscow, if you give anyone an inch, they take a mile, or 1.6 kilometers for that matter. Whether in the metro trying to board the train, testing your fate crossing the street amidst busy traffic where there isn't a переход (pedestrian underpass), or even do something as simple as add more money to your pre-paid phone (which is the norm in Russia), if you hesitate for just one moment, there will be someone there to cut in front of you. Due to the long lines of the Soviet era, Russians have become the masters of standing in line. They can size you up in an instant and if you show weakness, be prepared to wait just that much longer because you haven't even realize that they are now already standing in front of you.

One of the most cutthroat places to queue up for something would have to be anywhere in which you are trying to obtain a ticket. I have countless memories of trying to obtain a museum билет, admission to an art gallery, or something as important as a train ticket I need to get to wherever I am traveling and people will do anything short of pushing you over to get what they want, (well sometimes that happens too). The coup d'gra of line standing is in the metro. As I mentioned earlier, boarding the metro can be difficult, but it doesn't stop here. There are simply so many people in Moscow (12 million officially, but estimates about labor entering the city on weekdays may push the number as high as 18 million), that the metro cannot accomodate the demand. Getting something as essential as a metro pass is not easy, especially near a вокзал where many passengers have just gotten of their trains arriving from other cities. People in these lines are ruthless. You have to be pushy back to ensure that you hold your place in line and are not cut.

The politics of Russian lines goes step further when it comes to the metro escalator. People are to stand on the right if they wish to stand or to walk if they wish to use the left side of the escalator. Usually after going over a переход to transfer from another station, people usually cram up towards the right side of the entrance to the escalator. This is especially true at the переходы where people are transferring to or from the circle line. There are, however, a clever few who move easily on the left as if they are to walk up or down the escalator and may actually do so for some time, but they fake you out and try to cram into whatever small space they can find on a step of an escalator, no matter if there is little room there. Therefore, in defense of your person space, if such a thing exists in Russia, you stand in a staggered manner with one leg on a step of the escalator and another on the step above or below it so as to defend your ability to stand comfortably on the escalator in the spot you rightfully deserve after waiting. This may not seem like such a discomfort, but when you consider the humid heat of the summer or the many layers you may be wearing in winter, the added presence of additional body heat is something that is definitely not welcomed.

After reading these descriptions, you may think that москвичи (Muscovites) are rude and impolite. One thing to keep in perspective is that this is a huge city and people are in a hurry to get where they are going. If you were in a big city like New York, would you be surprised if you found so of the people to be rude... probably not. It is expected that people in big cities will be in a hurry and that they don't want to wait for tourists or the indecisive. Furthermore, while people may be in a hurry, I have found that if you need to ask for directions, people are more than willing to help, even if you are a foreigner. On a few occassions, they even talked at length with me for a few minutes about what I was interested in seeing during my semester of studies. While some may hold that there are too many foreigners in Moscow and that the last thing the москвичи want to do is help another foreigner find his or her way around, from my experience, I have found that only the contrary is true.