On the train from Kyiv to Konstantinovka last night I sat next to a talkative babushka who was fascinated by my MacBook. She asked what it could be used for, and I explained to her – in Russian – what the Internet is.
“I know the Internet,” she said. “My grandchildren watch it often. It has a lot of guns from America. And lots of violence.”
What I imagine she believed the Internet to be was a place where her grandchildren play interactive bang-’em-shoot-’em-up games like World Of Warcraft. So I told her it could be used for many things, like disseminating information to people around the world. When I told her I speak to my parents using the Internet, and that I could see them on the screen while doing so, she shook heard head in amazement and made a clicking noise with her mouth.
A moment after a man came by and asked if we’d like to purchase an electric massager. The small white device resembled a vibrating dildo and was slightly longer than my forefinger. The babushka shooed him away after he tried to show how it works on her backside.
“No need for that,” the babushka said, shaking her head in disapproval. “Now, tell me about your life in America.”