cultural stereotypes

[Rodney Patterson]

I was shocked to see Professor Rosset accused of "supporting and circulating
cultural stereotypes" when in fact she was proposing a poetry panel.  I
think that some of us get "trigger happy" with email; it is so easy to fire
off a few angry words electronically in answer to someone else's email that
sometimes we forget to study exactly what it is we're blowing off steam
about.  In olden days, when one had to hunt up a pen, paper, stamp and an
envelope, carry a letter to a post office or box, etc., one usually had time
to cool off and think twice.  To comment judiciously and fairly on others'
messages now requires more discipline and restraint.

I'm sure that most of us who are at least minimally fluent in Russian and
have spent more than a month or two getting used to cultural differences,
are easily annoyed by people who, having once fallen afoul of a bad-tempered
clerk, a thief, etc., make ridiculously unfair generalizations about Russia.
  It seems to me, incidentally, that the original cautionary letter was not
blameworthy; one needs to take the same precautions in any big city.

Most of my memories of my considerable time in Russia and the very fine
people I knew there are so strongly positive that I can hardly wait to
return.

Rodney L. Patterson
State University of New York at Albany



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