It may have been triggered by two things…
1) a confrontational event with someone the day before that had shaken up me some
2) having someone make very disparaging and critical remarks about Russian people to my face, not knowing that I am Russian, and had spent many years living there.

The person was basically being very P.C. in general, so I was not expecting a bigoted remark, and then when I interrupted to say that I and my family are Russian, the other person did not apologize–but seemed to think that the negative remark that “Russians are really nasty” was just a simple fact, not a personal prejudice.

Yes, I have heard cliches about the Russian people, but more along the lines of either “they don’t have anything over there, they are so deprived” or “Russians are more spontaneous-creative and wild or possibly undisciplined”

In my mind this was discrimination/prejedice…all the things that I am afraid of in being openly Jewish. But it came out in regards to being Russian–something I didn’t have any defences prepared for.

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Next time I’ll post on the issue of level of observance as it is growing. How fast is too fast?