Oh, the good old
days!
Speaking
to elderly people it is inevitable to reach a point when they fall into bittersweet
nostalgia and tell you wondrous anecdotes of the once shiny past, when they
were occupied by communists or suffering during both World Wars, just to
mention the most recent, 20th Century.
How could then such controversial phenomenon shape a whole country’s way of thinking? Our country has definetely seen better days, and worse, too, to be fair, but it is sure that the hardships and perpetual condradictions of this land’s history lead to a specific attitude towards others and each other. Living almost half a century under the reign of the Soviet Union and therefore communism, it is no wonder that there are still major impacts on today’s society, even after 25 years. In that system there was no one to be trusted, in some cases not even in one’s family, but still most of the senior citizens would happily run back into the arms of Kádár János, insted of living in Orbánia.
Furthermore, even those on the other side of this debate, who support Orbán Viktor would possibly say they would rather live a good 30-40 years earlier, but it is most likely only because those were the times of their glorious youth and let’s face it, who would not like to be forever twenty one?
These phenomena could be observed in other countries that were under the influence of communism and we could probably make a general deduction and realize that these are true for all of these lands. However, the point I would like to make here is that it seems like, Hungarians (mainly the elderly) tend to be very pessimistic and always dissatisfied with what they have, which ultimately leaves them to eternal complaint and bittersweet nostalgia.
For instance, the trips of BKV serve as a good example. If someone is not sleeping, reading in silence or listening to music on the way, but speaks loudly or even shares a good laugh with their friends, they immediately get into the center of attention and are burned by all other eyes through the rather thick glasses. For me, it also means that we cannot take delight in other’s happiness. An extreme case I experienced the other day was when a seemingly sick old lady was trying to get on a tram with two huge and heavy packs. Of course Hungarian politeness showed itself as quick as lightning (to mention one of our good features, as well) and three young men helped the old lady, one even gave up his seat. After that in a very unexpected turn of events, the lady showed her ticket inspectorial armband and penalized two out of three helping lads.
How could then such controversial phenomenon shape a whole country’s way of thinking? Our country has definetely seen better days, and worse, too, to be fair, but it is sure that the hardships and perpetual condradictions of this land’s history lead to a specific attitude towards others and each other. Living almost half a century under the reign of the Soviet Union and therefore communism, it is no wonder that there are still major impacts on today’s society, even after 25 years. In that system there was no one to be trusted, in some cases not even in one’s family, but still most of the senior citizens would happily run back into the arms of Kádár János, insted of living in Orbánia.
Furthermore, even those on the other side of this debate, who support Orbán Viktor would possibly say they would rather live a good 30-40 years earlier, but it is most likely only because those were the times of their glorious youth and let’s face it, who would not like to be forever twenty one?
These phenomena could be observed in other countries that were under the influence of communism and we could probably make a general deduction and realize that these are true for all of these lands. However, the point I would like to make here is that it seems like, Hungarians (mainly the elderly) tend to be very pessimistic and always dissatisfied with what they have, which ultimately leaves them to eternal complaint and bittersweet nostalgia.
For instance, the trips of BKV serve as a good example. If someone is not sleeping, reading in silence or listening to music on the way, but speaks loudly or even shares a good laugh with their friends, they immediately get into the center of attention and are burned by all other eyes through the rather thick glasses. For me, it also means that we cannot take delight in other’s happiness. An extreme case I experienced the other day was when a seemingly sick old lady was trying to get on a tram with two huge and heavy packs. Of course Hungarian politeness showed itself as quick as lightning (to mention one of our good features, as well) and three young men helped the old lady, one even gave up his seat. After that in a very unexpected turn of events, the lady showed her ticket inspectorial armband and penalized two out of three helping lads.
Sadly most of us think it natural
and obvious that in need, someone helps us, but when the table is turned, it is
suddenly none of our business anymore. Could all this be again clarified by the
historical fact that Hungary went through simply one too many storms and stresses
throughout its history? Supposedly, any
nation would be pessimistic and full of negative ideas after a 150 years of
Turkish occupation and two national tragedies: Trianon and the miracle of Bern.
The idea, however, that these national tragedies made almost equally harm to
Hungariannes is intriguing and ludicrous at the same time. Nevertheless,
Hungarians were almost always on the losing side of international affairs, but
at least it helped us get into leading positions in depression, smoking and
alcoholism.
To conclude, controversiality made an impact big enough on Hungarians that it does not let them realize what they recall as haydays, they were rather tragic eras. Anyhow, of course I also hope that one day I would sit in my rocking chair and start wondrous anecdotes of the once shiny past, the good old days.
Nagy Bence
To conclude, controversiality made an impact big enough on Hungarians that it does not let them realize what they recall as haydays, they were rather tragic eras. Anyhow, of course I also hope that one day I would sit in my rocking chair and start wondrous anecdotes of the once shiny past, the good old days.
Nagy Bence
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