Perpetual Idleness

In the scorching heat of a summer afternoon, I was about to descend to a suburban metro station in Budapest when this little boy captured my attention. Passers-by most probably put on their lunette of ignorance without devoting the slightest attention to him and his family, as they have become a permanent organic accessory of the metro station’s begrime, unpleasant environment.

As school is closed during the summer holiday, the little boy is condemned to perpetual idleness as he is stranded by her mother’s side all day, trying to sell fruits, vegetables, grocery products and gadgets. His undeniably grim, everyday reality is the squalor of the metro station, with the odour of urine, garbage and food from the nearby stalls; and the sight of disease, helplessness and a dozen people sleeping rough.

Staring into the distance, with want? hope? or renunciation? in his eyes, he remains utterly invisible for people trying to reach their destination. I believe what the welfare state could do for the little boy is to end his invisibility and to make sure he does not become a victim of the unfair lottery of life.