Thread: I don't make the rules - Я не делаю правил ?

Working at Israel's coast, I often run into Russian tourists. There is a toll of a 1 shekel (about 8 rubles, or 25 cents) to enter the toilet here. I'd like to say "I don't make the rules" in Russian, so they won't see me as a factor in this. So, is there a phrase for that in Russian?

Haha... tell them it is very cheap compared with many other countries!!

Не я устанавливаю/придумываю такие правила.

You can say: Правила не я придумываю. Не я придумываю эти правила.

Во-первых, правила и расценки уже установили, значит это прошедшее время, и говорить нужно: Не я установила (придумала) эти правила (цены).
Но такой ответ не украшает Вас как работника. Лучше сказать: Правила установлены администрацией или Согласно прайса. Иначе получается, что Вам "все пофигу".
Во-вторых, в России у туалетов сидят бабушки или гастарбайтеры. Что Вы-то делаете у дверей в туалет?

Originally Posted by Hanna

Haha... tell them it is very cheap compared with many other countries!!

It is in fact very cheap compared to Moscow.

Originally Posted by kvs

Во-первых, правила и расценки уже установили, значит это прошедшее время, и говорить нужно: Не я установила (придумала) эти правила (цены).
Но такой ответ не украшает Вас как работника. Лучше сказать: Правила установлены администрацией или Согласно прайса.

Согласно прейскуранту/согласно прайс-листу.

Я не знаю в Чикаго платных туалетов.

Originally Posted by Lampada

Я не знаю в Чикаго платных туалетов.

"Ты не в Чикаго,
Моя дорогая."

I suggest writing something that is very familiar to most Russians like, "Извините, льгот нет. Администрация." It is not a word-for-word translation of what you wrote in the origial post, but "Администрация" is really a very powerful key word and it normally removes any desire to question the price. Furthermore, nobody will ever see you as a factor in pricing.

Это обычная плата!

Дешевле не найдёте!

Можно и такой вариант:

"Если вам не нравится, уезжайте в Россию или Америку!"

"Извините, льгот нет. Администрация."

This would literally imply something like "Sorry, there are no special exceptions [to the toilet-fee] -- Administration", right? (In other words, the usual meaning of льгота is something like "privilege" or "free benefit" or "special offer for loyal customers", etc.?)

Originally Posted by maxmixiv

Это обычная плата!

Дешевле не найдёте!

Or, as I remember hearing "эн инглиш" at the Izmailovsky Park tourist market years ago:

"We have best crazy small prices!"

Originally Posted by kvs

Во-первых, правила и расценки уже установили, значит это прошедшее время, и говорить нужно: Не я установила (придумала) эти правила (цены).

Hmmm... but doesn't the present tense better emphasize the meaning that "I didn't invent this rule myself, two seconds ago, just to annoy you", or "I'm not making these rules up as I go along"?

(Is there a good Russian phrase for "as one goes along" -- that is, "without earlier planning, rehearsal, or precedent"?)

Valda, are not you native to Kenya?

Originally Posted by Anixx

Valda, are not you native to Kenya?

That's a bit strange thing to ask, I'd say.

Originally Posted by Lampada

That's a bit strange thing to ask, I'd say.

This is plain simple, just deductive method, popularized by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

As she lives in Israel, but works in a coastal toilet, she is not Jew. But she is also not Arabic because she speaks Hebrew. This means that she is most likely black. But as she is black but lives in Israel, this means she is Christian. Once she is Christian, her father was possibly from Kenya. As she learns Russian, that means she loves a Russian man. But if she had contact with him, he probably could teach her Russian and there would be no purpose to ask in the forum. So she possibly wants to find her lost love. Am I right?

Originally Posted by Anixx

This is plain simple, just deductive method, popularized by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

As she lives in Israel, but works in a coastal toilet, she is not Jew. But she is also not Arabic because she speaks Hebrew. This means that she is most likely black. But as she is black but lives in Israel, this means she is Christian. Once she is Christian, her father was possibly from Kenya. As she learns Russian, that means she loves a Russian man. But if she had contact with him, he probably could teach her Russian and there was no purpose to ask in the forum. So she possibly wants to find her lost love. Am I right?

What's the difference?

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

This would literally imply something like "Sorry, there are no special exceptions [to the toilet-fee] -- Administration", right? (In other words, the usual meaning of льгота is something like "privilege" or "free benefit" or "special offer for loyal customers", etc.?)

Yes. Here "льгот нет" basically means that nobody including the needy, retired, schoolchildren etc., is allowed to pay less, say, 15 rubles. Take it or leave it.
PS. Don't think of what I’m writing here now as a joke, please. I'm very serious.
Крымский аналитик - Фото из Москвы. Ах, Арбат, мой Арбат, ты - моя религия...