Russian boy playing on swing as inferno rages nearby proves that ‘this is fine’ in Noyabrsk

A two-story residential building recently burned to the ground in Noyabrsk, the largest city in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The building was evacuated in time, nobody was hurt, and the blaze attracted a small crowd of local gawkers. The spectacle didn't impress everyone, however, as demonstrated by a now viral video showing a boy playing on a swing set (with his back turned to the inferno).

The footage first appeared on a local VKontakte group. According to the website Ura.ru, the boy’s name is Dima and he’s nine years old. Dima’s relatives say he was out playing with his friends and “just really wanted to go on the swing for a bit.”

The Noyabrsk swing video has spread among Russian Internet users, and on the Anglophone Internet through Reddit and Twitter.

For many foreigners, the footage captures “a normal day in Russia,” playing into stereotypes about a broken country and its stoic people. For others, Dima’s apparent indifference about the nearby fire seems to be a cinematization of illustrator K.C. Green’s famous “This Is Fine” cartoon.

Or maybe it’s another version of Dave Roth’s “Disaster Girl” meme.

And let’s not forget about “a normal day in Oregon.”

By the way, our readers in Veliky Novgorod have entered this competition, as well: