If you ever visit Budapest, beware of this man. He cheated two of my students out of the change for their bus tickets (they didn't realise until after they'd walked away from the counter) - and he was totally unrepentant about it, arrogant in the knowledge that nobody would ever be able to prove it. How many other aliens in his land has he failed to show hospitality to and instead unashamedly cheated? How many other times has he abused his position of trust and responsibility? How many other times has he gone home smirking, with a pocket full of cash that rightfully belongs to others? How many other times has he decided that corruption is safe and that injustice will never be held to account? And HOW DARE HE CHEAT MY STUDENTS?!
I stood there, wondering how to deal with the situation. We had no means of gaining recompense and no way, it seemed, to even bring the crime home to him. There are no video cameras in that part of the station - and thus no record of his theft. He refused to give us his name or badge number, and how could we force that information from him, especially while he was safely behind plated glass? (Our Hungarian guide is the meekest, most softly spoken man imaginable. He was the translator for my passionate demand for recompense and justice, and it made me even madder to see the ticket man's complete dismissal of his gentle questions - the man didn't even bother to look at our guide when he said 'if you have a problem, write to the complaints department.' And he only responded after my poor guide repeated the question three times!)
Luckily, the door on the side leading to the ticket office was open and in a moment of blazing rage (I think righteous indignation is the word for it) and hence courage, I stepped in and took a photo of him. Well, tried to - my camera wasn't quick enough. He leapt out of his seat the moment he saw the camera, ran up to me, yelling madly (in Hungarian, of course). I stepped backwards and took another picture - which worked (hence the picture above), at which point he was so incensed that he hit my camera. (The camera, thankfully, is fine.)
My fellow chaperone stepped between him and me while he continued yelling at me and indicating that I should delete the picture. Now, it's hardly fair that the perpetrator of a crime should have sole rein to yell at a representative of the victims, so of course I started yelling back at him (in English). Not that I was thinking calmly and logically about it at that point in time. "So you think you're offended by the picture I took? Well, WE'RE the ones who are offended. You just cold-heartedly STOLE from two teenagers, foreigners in your land. You have violated every universal moral law of justice, hospitality, and care for the young! You are a thief! And you have stolen from CHILDREN!" etc. Oddly enough, the security guards at the station just stood nearby, not intervening. I guess they figured I wasn't about to start physically fighting with the ticket seller, so it was out of their jurisdiction.
After lambasting him severely, with my photo secure in my camera, I decided that it was time to walk away, so we did. While there's nothing much I can do with the photo, I hope we scared the man a bit and maybe stirred any spark of a conscience that he still has left. Hopefully he'll think twice before ripping someone else off.
Warning taken. I'll print that picture out and use it to scrutinise every bus ticket seller I encounter if I ever visit Budapest. I may not mention my relation to you, however, if you don't mind.
ReplyDeleteAnd let that be a warning too to anyone who would dare mess with the courageous Val!