DJ in JM: Moscovites in Janesville

Here is my latest Janesville Messenger column:

This November, around Thanksgiving, something very unusual happened: my cousin from Moscow, Sergei, who I haven’t seen in nearly 25 years, came over with his wife Lala, to visit.  Every night we stayed up catching up, but the cool part was that it felt like we never parted.  We picked up right where we left off, and he called me “old man”, once again, just like when I was 13. 

Since my cousin and his wife live in Moscow, and we live in Janesville, I wasn’t sure about what to show the visitors.  So what I decided to do, was to show them the America we live in, the best I could. 

We went to an American courthouse where I work as an interpreter, and sat in on different hearings.  On Sunday morning, we went to an American church where I work.  We went to an American nursing home where I play music and we went to my daughter’s parent teacher conference at an American school. 

My Muscovites were fascinated by all of it, but seldom for reasons I expected.  After exiting the school building, for instance, my cousin remarked how amazed he was that the money budgeted to build the school, was actually used to construct a quality building and not to line someone’s pockets. 

Still, most of our time was spent at department stores. Prices, selection and quality of products we get in Janesville are way better then in Moscow, and customer service here is infinitely friendlier.  Overwhelmed, visitors from distant lands wondered through the aisles at Kohl’s in some sort of a happy daze.  Then, after trying on different outfits and finding just the right size and color, they discovered the second joy of shopping: returning the merchandise.

 

Being able to return that which you purchased but for whatever personal decision decided not to keep, is a luxury that evidently was not familiar to Russian travelers. Speaking of which, the fact that in the middle of a cold spell, young women could be seen walking around, particularly on State Street in Madison, in mini-skirts, was simply astonishing to visitors from the north who are raised to dress warm! 

After he left, my cousin told me he started missing Janesville already in Chicago.  You see, he said, going to a supermarket and getting whatever you need at a reasonable price at any time, or enjoying a justice system that respects its own laws, or living in a society not rotten by corruption, is very nice and enviable.  I guess living in a fast paced urban jungle, even with its great variety of experiences and opportunities, can be tiring.

Why am I telling you all this?  Because in this season of celebration, shopping, travel, family and whatever other stress we have in our lives, having someone take a look at it from the outside, was surprisingly reassuring. And not even because of the selection of sausages in our stores, but by the extent to which store clerks are generally happy to help a customer, by the extent to which the justice system respects the process, and government cares about accountability.

No system in the world is perfect, but what we have in America is so much better then where many other people exist, it deserves a certain degree if not of gratitude, at least appreciation.  No roses grow in winter, unless you go to your neighborhood florist or grocery store.  They are always there, nice and fresh.  Stop and smell the roses, sometimes.

Happy Holidays!