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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Take a patriotic ride

Are your patriotic credentials in need of refreshing? Have you taken pride in the glorious past of your nation lately?

No, neither have I, but today I realized there is an ingenious way to do it. If you happen to be Hungarian and live in Hungary, you can choose to zoom around not in any random taxi company, but patriotic taxi service called JOBB taxi. Any similiarity to the name of the ultra-right party that has just won almost 17% of votes (JOBBIK) is very deliberate if you even just take a peek at their website (jobb means better but also right, both in spatial and abstract sense).

You would have to be blind to miss the map of pre-Trianon Hungary (which includes big chunks of several neighboring countries) blasting from every corner of the site and, according to reliable eye-witnesses, features prominently on the actual taxis. If you want to become a regular customer, you get a card with--you guessed--a huge map of Greater Hungary coupled with a coat of arms with angels hovering over it.

Interestingly, the homepage features their bank account in flashing numbers the colors of Hungarian flag (red, white, green) so if you don't feel like a ride, but want to support the cause, I suppose you can wire your donation. They offer really competitive prices, but you probably need to complete a quick language and constitution test before you can enter the taxi, and a DNA sample might be needed to establish your true Hungarian-ness.

The taxi drivers are wearing Arrow Cross (Hungarian Nazi collaborators) uniforms and only ever turn right, never left. OK, I just invented this last bit but who's willing to bet?

4 comments:

Ruslan said...

That's true. I saw the taxi today and couldn't believe my eyes. The marriage between ultra-right ideologies and everyday services like taxi goes too far and is far from innocent.

Unknown said...

I know, I saw the taxi few weeks ago and I couldn't believe it either but after the high number of supporters that Jobbik received at the European elections I thought that after all I should have expected something stupid like this....

Dumdad said...

Ho, ho, I like the idea of taxis only turning right!

But, seriously, this is all a bit scary.

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

I do hope Hungary does not go down dark right path again. Being patriotic and being racist are not the same thing and should not be the same thing.