Sochi's 'terrible conditions'
I’m feeling really torn on this one. On the one hand I have absolutely no respect or tolerance for Putin and the policies in place, and the ‘No no, everything’s perfect and ready!’ shit that is so obviously not true.
On the other hand a lot of those journalist make it sound like they’re war correspondents stationed in a 3rd world country, and maybe all those tweets and photos have been shoved into my face too much, because they’re starting to sound like whining to me. Look! TERRIBLE CONDITIONS! As if what they’re dealing with still wouldn’t be a huge step UP for about half the world’s population. Some of what they’re encountering (like not flushing toilet paper) is actually pretty common in large parts of the world, and some of it just sounds like “Haha, bad English I am chosing to misinterpret!”
Look, Russia’s been the kid who bragged he lives in a huge mansion, here. But when you visit and you realise it’s actually a creaky old house that isn’t in great repair and has had some hasty patching, at some point you need to stop pointing and laughing at the flaws and how much you’re proving him wrong, and accept that this is his reality, and you don’t need to trask him into the ground, because it isn’t doing either of you any favours.