Small Spaces
I'm not one for small spaces. You see, as a young girl I got stuck in an elevator. I was with my Aunt and Unlce but I was still freaked out. So we have established that I don't like elevators in America, so let me transport you to Russia. First off Russia does not have the law of torts; you can't sue for falling down icy stairs... This means that owners of buildings do not have to keep the elevators in running order and henceforth the "help me I'm stuck button" doesn't work. First off they are SMALL, and they have gum stuck everywhere. The smell is awful; try not the breathe. Melting ice will do that once it festers in an elevator for years. Some of the buttons don't work, and as a single woman I'm putting myself in harms way if a drunk man decides to engage in some elevator entertainment. This is the alternative: stairs. You might think duh, this is the better idea, but let me inform you of Russian stairs. First off, their are absolutely NO lights; why spend money on keeping them lit? The idea when building the apartments was to build a big shoot down the side so that everyone could throw their garbage down. Good idea, but no cleanliness laws. Henceforth garbage collects through this shoot creating and awful smell and excellent fodder for rats. Big rats! but this is the problem, the rats aren't afraid of you! I shudder just thinking about them. They have long tails and fleshy bodies with course hair. I can hear the teeth chewing on nasty bits of food. The halls were so narrow that I had to step over them in order to leave the building. So, I risk my life dying in an elevator or worse yet rape. Or I experience the dining of rats. I chose the rats. But I hated it. Blindly you walk through the stairways hoping that if you kick one they move quickly; away from you. It was awful to walk through the dark and hear them scurry. I absolutley loved Russia, but not this part of it. Not this awful way to live. Post-Soviet Russia. Let's rebuild, but how? It's issues like this that intrigue me and pull me towards economic development. Global Social Justice.
posted by Laura at 12:15 AM
1 Comments:
I will never forget the smell of the stairways in Russia. In fact, that's what I remember Russia smelling like. Isn't it funny that even with such an awful "smell memory" of the place I can still remember it as such a wonderful place? I always wished that someone would want to clean up those stairways-like a maid or something, but maybe I should really just have gotten my rear in gear and done it myself. And yet, would it have mattered? I often felt that way while in Russia--apathetic. I wanted things to change, but it seemed so big and overwhelming, and I've never been good at having faith or hope when it comes to bigger issues like quality of life in post-Soviet Russia. That's why admire you, friend. You are an unending source of inspiration and energy. You remind me to keep going, caring, thinking. That's probably my favorite thing about you, dear.
Clarissa
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