In Soviet Russia...

Well, I had my first run-in with the Russian police (militsiya) yesterday...I was walking into the Mayakovskaya metro station, on my way home for dinner, when a Russian militsiya officer stepped in front of me and asked to see my documentation. I handed over my spravka and explained to him that I was a student at St. Petersburg State University. He nodded, but told me to follow him to the militsiya office in the station. Figuring it's best not to piss off an officer, I complied. When we got there, he told me to have a seat in what basically amounted to a holding cell (because they didn't have anywhere else for me to sit) and asked me if I was carrying narcotics. I responded that I did not, to which he raised a skeptical eyebrow and ordered me to empty my pockets. Feeling a little ridiculous, I did as I was told. The officer proceeded to thoroughly go through everything I had with me, while attempting to make small talk at the same time ("Where you from? Philadelphia? That's nice. Do you like Russia?" and so on). After he finished reviewing all my stuff, he then frisked me, just to make ABSOLUTELY sure I was not carrying narcotics, and then let me go, reminding me to carry my passport with me at all times. So basically, I was profiled by the Russian police as a possible narcotics trafficker....goddamn it, Russia.