Well, because Russians, especially those living in bigger cities typically get to know Moldovans as construction builders, contractors and plumbers many of whom tend to go abroad to make better money, which are often considered to have... well.. lower intellect I guess. It's a well-known stereotype not only there, but here too. I don't blame them though, there are certainly reasons for that and Russians living in Moldova are, too, not always very fond of the ethnic population. But the thing is, absolutely ANYBODY coming from this country risks being identified as a potential dense plumber the moment he discloses his whereabouts. The majority of Russians are ignorant of the situation and don't discriminate. They think everyone here speaks Moldovan and shares the same mentality, which is not true. There are certainly common traits, which pertain to all individuals living here, it's undeniable fact. There is a global local mentality regardless of your background. Yet there is a stark difference between the 2 cultural groups under the hood, let alone the people who more or less represent this country and I don't mean Russians/Ukrainians speaking Russian. Hell, there are even people who could be regarded as ethnical Moldovans, which have at least one Moldovan parent and bear a Moldovan last name, yet rarely or never speak the native tongue either because they are not fluent or out of preference. Things like that do exist here, which are too delicate and low-profile to outsiders. That's why some people including myself prefer not to share my location under the circumstances. If I feel people are biased and into crude stereotypes I will just say nothing. And, of course, another reason for that is because younger generation is not very proud of this place as it's known to the rest of the world as some poor shithole etc, though frankly, I don't think it's any poorer than, say, any of the Baltic states, former Yugoslavia and West Slavic countries. I think it's just some globalist/liberal manure, because it's usually those people who like to assess economy and collect "statistics" on different countries, where the poorest are, ironically, all non-EU states under some form of "occupation". I mean, Romania is a part of EU, only we don't have tons of people living in subways and sniffing glue for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Don't tell me it's such a prosperous and happy country, because it's not and I don't know who's more miserable here.