Two Guys, Two Girls, Two Bottles, Two Bouncers

In other news from the Eighth District, two Americans who refused to pay a bill totaling Ft 108,000 for two bottles of wine at a nightclub were beaten and robbed of Ft 65,000 early Monday morning by a pair of bruisers apparently employed by the bar. Assuming they weren't gulping bottles of 1993 Chateau Megyer Pajzos Essencia, our guess is that the poor sahibs were the victims of the old konzumlány ("consumption girl") scam, Hungary's most venerable con.

If you didn't know - and apparently many folks don't - when a girl in Hungary ask you out for a drink, the odds are 50/50 that, after a few watery drinks and a bit of stilted conversation with the slag in question, you will end up having a big brute relieve you of your wallet. In fact, so common is the swindle, and so unashamed its aficionados, that we had sort of assumed it was actually legal in Budapest, like shooting at people who make too much noise at night.

But now it turns out that it is actually illegal, at least in the Eighth District, because the police say they detained the two heavies. Which is great, except for our sneaking suspicion that, come nightfall, the goons will be back on the job. We are therefore going to make an example of this case, and do our best to find out if the bruisers and whoever was employing them actually get what they deserve, whatever that is. So if anyone knows the victims in question, drop us a line.

Don't laugh - if the thugs actually end up doing time or are otherwise put out of business, it may be a sign that the local authorities are finally starting to get a handle on a problem that makes too many tourists' visits to Budapest end up like some kind of terrible Quentin Tarintino movie where you really can't understand what anyone is saying. And if the cops don't do anything, well, we know someone in the neighborhood who may be looking for an excuse to blow off some steam.