No. 11 - Russian Character
There is sometimes a glimpse of the Russian character in
unexpected places. Communications between people on deck, in the
labs and on the bridge is accomplished with a series of loud
speakers and microphones. The chatter is sporadic, except during
a tricky deployment, and conducted in a mix of Russian and
English. We talk among ourselves, passing measurements and
positions over hand-held radios, but communication over the loud
speaker is more rudimentary: stop, up, down, thank you, don't
mention it -- which have obvious Russian equivalents: stop, vera,
minor ... The oceanographer uses the system more than anyone
else as he collects a series of water samples at precise depths,
but it is used briefly at each station by the biologists in order
to turn the net around after reaching the desired depth.
One
talks through a microphone, which is a work of art, at the end of
a long wire. There is one in the main computer room strung from
who knows where along with the zillion other wires we've
tie-wrapped to anything standing still, there's one on deck
that's has a heavy coiled wire that retracts out of the way,
there's one next to the big windows on the bridge that look down
over the after deck.
The Russians like the speakers turned up
loud, to the point where they hum in the background. Whatever is
said into the microphone is directed to strategically located
speakers, amplified, and in your face. The microphone is a
slender triangle, about seven inches long and a couple inches
wide, brown marbled in color, and molded in very hard, thick
plastic. At the short flat end of the triangle is a small grate
that you speak to and along the side is a long lever set into the
plastic; squeeze the lever and the microphone is activated. It's
made in a sort of heavy art deco style and its appearance
resembles something from an early set of plastic dishes. When
you talk into it your words have an immediate presence in several
places simultaneously. The oceanographer has christened it the
Bakalite Talking Tube and we pass it back and forth with some
ceremony.
-Roger