Posted: admin on Jul 05 | Anti-Scam
Ludmila Moeva’s letter was full of hysterical reproofs like ” you promised to marry and let me down”, Ludmila accused Richard of lying and hypocrisy and asked him not to bother himself to write her any more.
I answered Ruchard’s puzzled questions that maybe Ludmila’s life had been very hard, maybe she looked forward to his visit so impatiently that broke out. I answered Richard’s question about Ludmila’s character saying that in my opinion, Russian women like Ludmila are capable of both very good and very bad actions.
Then the crisis of 1998 broke out, and soon another letter from Ludmila Moeva to Richard White arrived, the letter with the request of help. There was neither reproaches nor digressions into Russian history and literature in that letter — Ludmila wrote that that her kiosk was closed, that she was off work, that her city was dead, life in it stopped, that the winter was ahead, but her son had neither boots nor warm coat. A sheet of paper with the boys’ outlined footprint was enclosed in the letter which I scanned and sent to Richard.
Richard White was not an angel. When I charged him for my translation of Ludmila’s letter, he sarcastically noticed that he understood all the necessity of charity, but he did not understand why he had also to pay for the letter with the request of it. Being confused, I cancelled my bill, having said that let my translation be my input on the cause of Ludmila’s relief.
Russian women all suffer to a certain degree
Very soon the two parcels with the things enthusiastically chosen by Richard already flew to Russia. Richard sent Luidmila’s letter with the description of horrors of post-crisis Russian provincial life to his American friends, they posted it to several electronic lists, a charity organisation “Help Russia!” was founded on its basis, tens of addresses of people in need were collected, parcels with warm things, soap, matches and salt started to leave for Russia. It seemed to me that soap, matches and salt were rather touching than actual gifts: times of Civil war in Russia had passed long ago. However, thoughts of Americans collecting the parcels warmed my heart. I imagined that, having torn themselves from their personal and business affairs, they drove around their shopping malls, bought things and thought of Russia. As for Richard and Ludmila, they continued to write, but the romantic side of their correspondence stepped to the background. That time they rather discussed things sent by Richard or “Help Russia!” society’s business. Though Richard was still going to come and still asked Ludmila questions how she saw herself in America, something imperceptibly changed in Ludmila’s letters after her strange and hysterical message. As if she swept aside any possibility of future happiness, as if she relished in each letter the descriptions of poverty and misery of the life in her city she evasively answered Richard’s questions, she hardly even thanked, but rather reproached him for the parcels because the post office charged her additionally to get them as Richard made a mistake estimating the postage. There was a strange indifference in the air of her letters, the origin of which neither Richard nor I could understand.