4/6 tram, on its way around the ring road
From a Facebook post from Dan Schwartz, owner of the wonderful Treehugger Dan's Used Book Shops here in Budapest:
On the 4-6 tram last night 2 Hungarian school girls were trying to practice their French with each other and not getting very far - their vocabulary consisting mostly of snippets from pop songs. In steps a homeless man who starts chatting to them and correcting them in French, and then another young guy joins the conversation...
This snippet from the day in a life says so much, not only about Budapest or Hungary, but also about the state of the world at large. School girls, the possibility of a bright future ahead, learning French from pop songs. Educated homeless man, down on his luck, but up on his French. Young boy, also apparently fluent.
I guess the truth is that you never can tell. The old cliche of books and covers comes into play. Humanity is much too comfortable with our lazy assumptions and this is so important to remember these days as jobs around the world are scarce. All of that fancy education may mean nothing, may get you nowhere, and you may find yourself on public transportation, listening to some whippersnapper reciting shallow pop songs in flippant French.
The 4/6 tram is a constantly revolving stage of live theater. I should listen more. I'm usually hyper-focused when I'm on the tram (almost everyday), since that is how I handle being in among the crowd.
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