Putin and the guy who faints
A snippet from Hungarian reality. I needed some blood samples taken for my regular yearly checkup. As public healthcare in Hungary is in shambles I went to a rather pricy private practice.
The two ladies at the lab must have registered the terror on my face (I am a big time needle phobia fainter) they started some small talk:
Do you like to read, Sandor?*
Yes ma'am I do.
And what do you read these days?
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon. It’s a detective story set in an alternative history where Israel failed and Jews live in a fictitious metropolis in Alaska.
Oh, it must be interesting!
Yes it is.
(the other lady) I read now the new book by Frei**. That guy knows the future, Putin must be givin him some info!
This is why social media should take action against Russian propaganda. Otherwise you will end up with a bunch of brainwashed Putin-adoring droids. Maybe even elect one President.
* First name and formal (third person, like in German) speech is a type of “semi-formal” speech in Hungarian. This is not “Mr. Esik” formal but not first name terms as in American English. You are expected to respond formally.
**Tamás Frei is a former reporter who now runs a café chain and writes bestseller semi-fiction paperbacks about a fictitious James Bond like character called “André”.