16 years ago I came to Bucharest for the first time. I was that scared kid of the big city and what could happen to me. Influenced by the news at the time about the violence in certain neighborhoods and the rap songs about a world full of poverty and hatred, my expectations were not very positive.
I remember as if it happened yesterday as I took the subway from Pacii station and beyond the fascination of escalators and the subway itself, I was imprinted in my mind with a life moment.
I stepped shyly into the subway and sat down on the chair. Immediately, a boy dressed as a clown with 5 colored balls in his hand entered the wagon and started juggling. I was fascinated by the fact that he could keep his balance and juggle so many balls at once. It caught my attention for a minute, after which I switched my gaze to the other passengers. Seeing them, I had the impression that I was in a zombie movie. Most of them stared blankly in a void as if mesmerized. No way for them to have fun or pay little attention to the clown. That was my first shock about the change I had made as a provincial. It was not about the violence I suspected, but about indifference.
As I said, 16 years have passed and things seem to have remained the same. We no longer escape in our minds but in phones, tablets and maybe sometimes books. We pass carelessly by others as if they are just obstacles that we avoid on our way. Sometimes we don't even see them until they get in front of us and then we get upset that they have chosen the same trajectory.
Maybe we think that this is just an isolated behavior, on the subway, in the car or on the street, but unfortunately it also spreads at home or at the office and indifference gives birth to indifference. It's a vicious circle. We then wondered why someone doesn't do something to change things. But we forget that someone is actually us.
To aid abused people on the street and not film them in order to get more likes on social media, to talk with those who still throw garbage on the street, to speak out our point of view when something bothers us without fear of being judge, to communicate with others in order to become a better version of themselves, more educated and not to pour out our personal frustration. Behind every action there is an intention and I think we have to start from there. Intentions makes the difference between must and want, between authentic and false, between kindness and hatred.