Hungarian Randomness

I.

Last week I was at my friend's apartment and ended up hanging out with Shaney, one of the construction workers rennvoating the apartment. Shaney is a soft spoken, unassuming guy except on the topic of "communist run" companies such as the BKV, or public transportation system in Budapest. It is a game for Hungarians to ride the metro without a ticket, and Shaney is no exception. Last time Shaney was ticketless and got stopped by a controller, instead of pretending to be foreign (which he usually does), he put on his sunglasses and pretended to be a deaf mute. The controller wasn't buying it, but Shaney kept on staring straight ahead as the increasingly irritated controller yelled at him. Then at the next stop, Shaney blindly put his hands out and stumbled down the stairs and onto the street.

II.

I always see Asian tourists taking pictures around the city but yesterday I saw a family take turns photographing each other drinking from a public water fountain.

III.

It is a law in Hungary that you need to drive with your lights on, no matter what the weather or time of day. I don't like this rule because the more often I drive with my lights on, the more likely I will forget to turn them off when I park the car. However, if I ever try to dodge this rule pulling out of the parking garage on a bright, sunny day, the parking attendant Andrew raps on my window with a concerned look, "Safety first Alex, safety first."

IV.

Over the past two weeks, I have seen a plethora of eye patches around the city. Now I don't know if it is a fashion trend or if there are a lot of blind or injured people all of a sudden, but I do know that I might need to get one. In case I ever get stopped on the metro and need to pretend to be a deaf mute.