Marketing miracle.

Mc Donald's at Sennaya plaza can serve as an illustration to the popular book "marketing miracle" A large Mc Donald's▓s full of people; lines are long in spite that attendants works very fast. People in line loudly read these not understandable words like "big Mac", "bacon egg and cheese" written with letters of Russian alphabet. They do not know what they means, but determined to experience the taste of America. Near Mc Donald's▓s at the entrance to Sennaya metro station there are a lot of kiosks selling hot pirojkis (patties); Pirojkis with meat, fish, potatoes, cabbage, cottage cheese, all sorts of berries. Pirojkis are very tasty a lot more than Mc Donald's▓s stuff and 7 times cheaper, but there is no line for them.

Russian Starbuck. There are no Starbucks in St. Petersburg. But large outlet called Idealnaia Chshka (perfect cup) at Nevsky Prospect is about the same as Starbucks and very popular. I think it is even better then Starbuck. The service is perfect, fast, friendly. Coffee on my opinion is the same as at Starbuck. Pastries is even better. Price is small fraction of Starbuck▓s. And it is open 24 hours. I was there at 4 am and it still was few people there.

Privacy complex. Like devoted Muslims strictly obey the rules of shariat, Americans strictly obey unwritten rules of privacy. They will not sit next to the stranger at restaurant table or in the bus. They barely would ask stranger for the direction. They go from home to work in their cars and don▓t see much people except for family and coworkers. Being collective animals as the rest of human Sapiens they suffer from these self imposed restrictive rules, but cannot break them┘ everybody except for T.G. There is no word equivalent to word privacy in the Russian language; and there is no privacy too. For change, it is fun. A babushkas give you advises, strangers, especially drunk, start to talk with you on not direction related topics. These category of people, whom Americans try to avoid at any cost like children and young women are not an exclusion here. American avoid them because of constant media bombardment about sexual and child abuse cases. Even a person who do not have intention to abuse anybody instinctively try to protect himself, especial because many of these "abuse" cases are bogus and have the only purpose to enrich lawyers.

Alex Mumzhiu mumzhiu@yahoo.com
St. Peterburg
Russia
Aug. 15, 2001 1 pm.