Russia doesn't seem all that different from America.

This is a thought I had for a long time now, thanks to what the YouTube commentator Drift0r told his viewers about the US. People seem to have built sky-high barriers between the two nations, even though there's a lot we can learn from each other, including looking at one another and noticing what each nation alone won't in themselves.

It's true that the dare most criminals possess is attractive, but given how many of them are on screens in Russia, it's more than just bandit charm: it's Russians cheering for both the idealistically good police and the mindlessly evil lawbreakers (the more if one is as well the other).

When in doubt, just use "sir."

This is one thing I love about English: you can address any man by using the respectful but not poetic "sir", and any(?) woman - by using "ma'am".

Russians use the gender names as tone-neutral and you-based addresses: "Мужчина ([muzh-TSCHI-nah], "man"), pass the cash to the driver, please" or "Женщина ([ZHEN-schih-nah], "woman"), could you not step on my feet?". When you're not young enough for either of those ("women" are females above the age of thirty-something, but I in my 20 years of age am a "man" already), people use "молодой человек" [moh-loh-DOY tscheh-loh-VEHK] ("young man") or "девушка" [DEH-vush-kah] (a name for a young female adult, a rank higher than "девочка" [DEH-votsch-kah], "girl", who's younger than 16 or 18).