Today is a national holiday – National Unity Day. Exactly one month separates him from the main local holiday – Murmansk’s birthday. Are we united today here in the north of a great country? Can we say of ourselves that we are a force? Is this where Russia starts or are we just its outskirts?
In the 1990s, the first mayor of Murmansk, Oleg Naydenov, was asked about his party affiliation. Oleg Petrovich sincerely answered that he was from the Murmansk party.
When I served in the Soviet army, my colleague, a refined Moscow boy with the pop surname Brunov, said with sincere admiration: “I always thought that only Leningraders and Odessans love their cities, their small homeland, so selflessly. I was wrong. There are three such cities. The third is Murmansk. I was proud of Murmansk, of us, eighteen boys from Murmansk, who ended up serving in one unit.
On the roads of the vast country, if we came across a car with a Murmansk license plate standing on the side of the road, we invariably stopped and asked if we needed help. And they were just genuinely happy to meet compatriots. And the further it was from Murmansk, the greater was our joy.
My father loved to return to Murmansk by train. This allowed him to see which ships were sitting against the wall of his home factory awaiting repairs, and which ship (or even a nuclear-powered ship) had already docked. He seems to be trying out in advance for the job that awaits him after the vacation.
Have we lost everything in recent years? All the best qualities that have always been inherent in northerners. For which we were respected throughout the country. By which it was established that we are from the North. What, there is no Murmansk Citizens Party anymore? Don’t have our special northern character? Have we become incapable of love, friendship, pride with our land, with our city? I would like to hope that I am wrong, but every day I see more and more signs that we have stopped loving our region and our city.
The worst thing, in my opinion, is that today Murmansk is neither our friend nor our enemy, but it is. We become indifferent. To the city, to the people we once loved, to the people we were friends with.
A movie character said that to deliver on time is not to deliver, but to anticipate. Maybe something is wrong with us? Or did someone break us? It’s hard for the city today. Oh, how timely we deliver it! Or do we predict? After all, then this is not treason?
Murmansk is a hero city. So, the heroes are the ones who built it, who protected it, who restored it, but not us and you. We do not reach such a high rank. He is not worthy of such an honor. Or maybe I just made it all up for myself? And in fact, everything is fine in our city and in the city, and we confidently look to a bright future?
Andrey PRIVALIKHIN.
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