Special Cultural Event in Budapest today

I missed it!

I wondered if it was routine
People were trying on clothes from a pile next to a pile of wood

twice a year. Its bizzare. but its life. Do undersand that the median wage here is about 65% of the buying power of the median wage in the US. This is a poor country. But most often they do it with great dignity. Lets let them have one day of ..... well .... i dont know how to describe it

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Nothing wrong with recycling on a large scale. I’ve heard of people on Long Island scouring the night before bulk garbage day then selling their finds at a garage sale.

This is a regular occurrence here in Los Angeles on trash day - if you put out a desirable item the night before, it is often gone by morning - I've seen things picked up within 30 mins of being put out. Scrap metal can be especially appealing. You can request bulky item pickup from the city, but the item is often gone before the city truck arrives.

And then of course enterprising unhoused who go from one recycling blue bin to the next with their shopping carts, starting early evening, looking for beverage containers with deposit value.

I had four piles on my street last night. Each guarded by a child from the upper 8th District. I am helping with a renovation down the street and we had a lot of trash so I hired one of the kids to help with the cleaning and the hauling. It being Friday evening the other notable activity were the Orthodox walking down the streets to Shabbat at the temple. Nice to see people from all walks of life getting along.

By 11pm the piles had been picked clean of the good stuff. The city trucks came bright and early and now the street sweepers are doing their job. "Street Sweeper" is not a machine, its an individual. Have about a dozen on my street as I write.

The other cultural economic activity revolves around the new 50ft ($0.13) deposit on drink cans and bottles. The minimum wage here is about $500 a month after taxes so 50ft is no small sum.

Here in Boston, because of the high density of universities most of the apartment leases turn over on September 1st. So we have a similar event called "Allston Christmas", so named for a neighborhood that's mostly student rentals. On moving day people abandon stuff that doesn't fit in their trucks or they can't be bothered to move, and scavengers go through looking for the best bits before the trash trucks come through.

TTM: here is the schedule so you can plan: https://www.fkf.hu/2024-evi-lakossagi-lomtalanitas-idopontjai

:)

We've been in the right district in Budapest a few times to witness the piles and the 'shoppers.'

LOL, thanks, Christy! They need to publish 2025 so I can start looking for my plane ticket. :):)