WHEN LIFE OFFERS YOU A CHANCE

Most people - of course, only when they experience something inexplicable or just a strange, strange thing or event - tend to call the given act or the given person who participated in the act not 100, or denigrate it with idiocy. If we take it that way, even this could quite easily be a kind of deliberate, unforgivable humiliation.

Regarding Mr. Kulcsár, one gets the feeling - at least on first impression - that he is a man well past middle age, who, in his common sense, only has a month or two left until retirement, so that he can finally get rid of his bitter, miserable robot work brigade once and for all, and he could finally live alone for gardening, reading, and writing, so that in the heat of the day, for example, he dressed as if he were preparing for the North Pole expedition, while on the other hand, during the freezing cold, he preferred to walk around barefoot, coming and going. In addition, he kept almost all of his small studio apartment in such pedantic order that even a fly crawled around his a*s. Of course, only figuratively speaking.

Apparently he didn't trust anyone. His neighbors - also retired - were happy to help him for a while in whatever way they could. This is pretty much exhausted by Mr. Kulcsár's painstakingly detailed list of things to buy, such as: whole grain bread loaf, Stabilo blue-black ballpoint pen, sugar, but the cheapest kind, etc. It is no wonder, then, that most of the neighbors and acquaintances who were helpful in the beginning, after a while started deliberately neglecting the man, saying that they were in a hurry to get to work, or that their work was over, and that they were not very good at dealing with such trivialities as, say, the regular shopping.

He smelled of persistent sweat and mothballs.

In the evenings, the neighbors noticed that Úr Kulcsár usually listened to some kind of opera aria or classical chamber piece at maximum volume, always depending on what he was in the mood for. At other times, he recited many, many poems by heart in the voice of famous acting giants. If you didn't know him, you could easily believe that he was bluffing, since he could have reconstructed the original texts for himself from any book of poems, but Mr. Kulcsár still liked to stay true to himself.

"Uncle Kulcsár!" Please open the door for a moment. Hey! said a nice, retired lady. Such a Miss Daisy shape.

"That they won't let the man alone in his own apartment anymore!" grumbled the old man as he opened the door. - What do you like?! he glared at the shyly smiling old woman.

- No problem, dear Uncle Kulcsár, I just came to say that some residents are a bit disturbed by the loud noise coming from your apartment! They can't rest! I sincerely hope that you understand that we have to be considerate of each other, after all, that is why we are a residential community! - he said politely, with a kind measure, and then he left, as if he had anticipated the old man's anger, which made him far and away famous.

"My dear lady, I don't usually worry about who ruins their free time with what." In case you hadn't noticed, I do cultural things, and since I've reached a certain age, I don't think I have that much time to worry about such trivial, trivial matters as that crazy noise! - he cut short their conversation, and then, without listening to the old woman's answer, he simply slammed the door in front of the old woman's pissy, Bumford nose.

Then, about six months later, on an unfriendly autumn day, he saw some children playing in the inner courtyard of the gang house, and he had an idea that could be used:

"Hello, children!" How are you? he asked in a friendly, somewhat condescending manner.

"I kiss Uncle Kulcsár!" We are well! - they answered in chorus, at the same time.

"Well then!" - the old man cleared his ugly, withered throat. "If you buy me a Népszabadsag and some literary volumes from the antiquarian, you can get some pocket money!" It's time to get a little closer to the world of work! he declared with a small amount of eccentric pride.

"Oh, Uncle Kulcsár!" I like to know it's going to be bad... - began one of the blond-haired boys, who seemed to have fallen to his feet. �" I like to know that there is still a lot of homework; vacuuming and washing dishes, which we have to do while our parents are at work! - announced the lanky little boy instead of everyone.

"You want to make some money, you devils, or you don't!" Sweet doesn't matter to me! - the old man crossed both his stout arms commandingly in front of him. The four members of the five-person group of children, referring to housework, - as mentioned - cut it off almost immediately. Only a small, chubby little boy remained, who was still playing with his color-changing matchbox cars.

"Well then, my dear friend!" love is he alive to help this crazy old man you see in front of you, or not?! he asked her and seemed to want to make friends. The little boy, with his greenish-brown, big eyes, first looked at him fearfully, then as if he felt sorry for the old man, he got up from the cold stone and faced the old man:

"Tell me, uncle Kulcsár!" What should i bring?!

Suddenly, a big stone fell from the old man's heart, and he was so happy that there was at least one person on this cursed earth, whom he could make fun of, that he reached into his pocket for his wallet and took out ten thousand forints. Who knows what his pension might have been? The little boy pressed the banknote into his chubby hands, then said measuredly:

"Well then, my sweet boy!" You first go to the newsstand and buy a copy of Népszabadsat for three hundred and sixty forints. If you're done with that, there's an antiquarian on the corner, you go there and get as many of the books on the list as you can! Do you have a question?! he looked at her with piercing eyes. The little boy tried to swallow his own seemingly small fear in sips, then nodded that he understood every word the old man said, then he went to the newsstand first with lightning speed, and later he bought as many books from the list written by the old man with the remaining money from the antique shop as his chubby little hand could handle. When he finished everything and went home, he rang the doorbell to the old man, who greeted him with a grateful heart. He could think to himself, "there are still good people on earth, not just lowly nobodies"

"Hello my son!" Well! Then you keep what you promised! This is commendable! - he opened the door wide in front of the boy carrying the books, who could hardly bear the weight of the books under his hands and just wanted to free his busy hands from the heavy burden as soon as possible.

"Well, if I calculated it all correctly..." the old man looked at the multitude of things he had bought, totaling six thousand five hundred forints. You can keep the rest! Think of it as your very first paycheck! - the old man ushered the surprised little boy out the door, then shut himself up and started reading his books and the newspaper.

The next day, the boy's mother knocked on his door at eight o'clock in the morning.

"Good morning, Uncle Kulcsár!" I hope I'm not bothering you too much? he asked with a smile on his lips.

- Good morning! Is there something wrong, my dear lady?! - the old man was surprised at the early time.

"Don't misunderstand my words, uncle Kulcsár, but I'm afraid that I will have to return the money that my son received from you yesterday!" - the woman declared, and already took out her wallet to pay the amount.

"Ma'am!" I gave the little boy the money in exchange for work! He earned it honestly! the old man blurted out, still as if he had no idea what had happened.

- Yes, Andriska also told me this, but I think that such a little boy is not yet aware of the concept of money, if you definitely want to give him something, then give him something small that the child can use later. said the mother.

"Ah, or so!" - the old man now scratched his head, then he ran back to one of his back rooms to come back with five or six books. He placed the volumes in the woman's hands. "Give me the order, my dear lady!" Here's the pay!

"But these books belong to Uncle Kulcsár!" I can't accept them! - the woman looked at him hesitantly.

"But how can you accept it!" Your son is extremely conscientious and recovered! You will see, my dear lady, one fine day he will become a great man! - the old man didn't waste any more unnecessary words and immediately closed the door in front of the woman, while the woman remained there for a long time, hesitating and pondering. Later he walked up to the fourth, where they lived.

A few years later, when the little boy completed the eighth grade and was admitted to a bilingual high school, Uncle Kulcsár invited the now young man to his home for some mysterious reason.

"You've grown up well, you child!" he clapped his hands in front of him in surprise. "Listen carefully, because it is not certain that we will meet again!" Unfortunately, I have to go on a long trip and I have no idea when I will be back here again! Until then, I would like to ask you for a few not inconsiderable favors. First, always water my houseplants. It is sufficient if you water them once a week, because these are hardy plants, they can withstand it. Secondly, the pens and other things that are on my desk are still going, and I would like to ask you to write with them so that the ink does not dry in them, because then they will be useless, and that's the problem! Thirdly, you can and should use my library, because knowledge is priceless and a noble treasure! You can teach here, because the dog won't bother you either! Always keep order around you! �" the old man gave the surprised young man a chunky set of keys. They never met again. It turned out that Uncle Kulcsár had been ill for quite some time and that he died only miraculously it made me wonder how or how he managed to stay alive for so many years. When his second cousin broke the news that shortly after his eighty-fifth year, he fell asleep peacefully in the gang apartment building, the residents remembered him almost without exception, while Andris got an apartment that he can supervise and take care of!