incident on the subway

Anyway, I was on the subway tonight and had a moment that made me want to get back a different country soon. I was carrying around my backpack, a big 5L bottle of water and 2 bags of groceries on the subway when I looked over and saw this man bleeding from his the top of his shaved head, his nose and his knuckles. I felt a bit scared at first and then a bit of pity. I had no idea what had happened, there was no sign of a fight when I got on the subway and it looked like 2 women were trying to talk to him, likely trying help as he held a tissue to his head and the packet in with his other bleeding hand. He was wobbling a bit as he stood. I wasn't sure if he was drunk or just acting strangely because of being beaten. The whole situation made me feel sick. There are a lot of homeless people here, something I haven't really dealt with in a while. Perhaps a little in Thailand but they were a different type, there, the whole country is poor but I don't remember there being many beggars or drunks stumbling around at all hours of the day.

But, as I was looking down, attempting to distract myself with my Japanese flash-cards, trying not to look over to where the man was beginning to talk loudly as he bled, I just thought of how I didn't see so much of this in Japan or Korea. And I did feel sorry for him. He wasn't old, probably around 30 give or take a year. He wasn't dressed conspicuously or anything, just sort of normal with a flannel shirt and jacket, but his hair looked like it had been shaved a couple week ago, meaning it was just starting to grow out, which made me suspicious. I've seen a few skinheads here and heard of some attacks against people and some racism directed against some immigrants, evidently the Vietnamese are sometimes targets. Some are ok I know, but the full on racists, the kind that look to Hitler as a hero, well, I needless to say have no sympathy for. Well, this man stumbled off with the help of one of the women a couple stops before mine and I was selfishly thankful. But then, as he was walking past the subway car, he walks up to the window where this older man is sitting with a fedora hat, and yells something that I can only imagine as "something Jew". I don't know any Czech, but as in any language, some words always sound a bit alike. I looked at the man with the hat, an unusual hat for Prague but not uncommon for some Jewish people. He was sitting with his back to where the bleeding man was the entire time and probably never even saw him. Then he is yelled at, for no reason, than the fact that he may be Jewish.

This problem is not unique to Prague, it's a problem in many parts of Europe, the US, the world really. Poverty exists here because it used to be a Communist country and it's still going through the growing pains of capitalism (positive connotation not intended). There is a small class of very rich and lots of people who live normal simple lives. All the nice restaurants, cafes, stores and such that have popped up over the last 20 years are more for the tourists, not the local Czech people who really can't afford it. I mean, things have improved overall since the Communist period, but sometimes you can feel the resentment towards the foreigners who they view as having so much money. I don't know, it was a difficult situation that has been stuck in my head most of the evening. I know that there will be many things about Japan that will frustrate me, other things that I simply don't like, but at least when I was there I didn't see the poverty and I don't think it exists like it does in so many "modern" countries, like my own. That is one thing I have a lot of respect for.