I do not think kmyers meant his post as an insult. I view it as a compliment. We are all modelers after all. I think he was pointing out that you in Russia make a large financial commitment, as many of us do to our hobby.

Sometimes we do not understand each others languages enough and this causes us to make false judgements.

Personally, I love interacting with people from other countries. Many times I have found very useful and innovative information from them.