Parliamentary candidate from the „Democratic Bulgaria-Unification“ coalition, Teodor Stoychev Mihailov, apologized for his post on Facebook from yesterday. We remind you that he shared a photo with Elisaveta Belobradova – also a parliamentary candidate, and the caption read:
„We are in mud baths. Happy holiday!“
We attached today’s post by Mihaylov without editorial intervention:
„I want to apologize to everyone who felt offended by the „mud baths“ self-irony. I also apologize for any word of mine that has hurt anyone.
I’m sorry that the joke, directed only at myself, at that moment when I was wet with sweat and stepped in mud, sounded like a mockery. I assure you it was not.
I invite you from the bottom of my heart – if you want to personally experience how this joke was born, come here to us equipped with boots and shovels. I promise you that in a few hours you will know where the mud jokes come from, even the most inappropriate among them. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Additionally, it’s not an excuse. I’m just saying that here we see a different Bulgaria, which is not like the Bulgaria from Facebook
Since I have been with my shovel and my jokes in Karavelovo, I have not met a single desperate or grumbling person. I don’t know how to describe it so that you will believe me. When we arrived, a woman asked us to dig out her beloved magnolia tree from all the mud brought in by the floods. She liked it. We dug, we dug…but we couldn’t. And I’m still angry. But in the end, all we saw was gratitude and smiles. They are all smiling, despite what has befallen them, because they have support. You can’t despair among these people. Again, I apologize for the inappropriate metaphor. The people here are great. Their spirit is higher than any tidal wave. My laughter was never at their expense. We dig together, we eat together, we laugh together. We are all the same in the mud. Laughter during these days helps us to pour out what we need without giving in to fatigue and without giving up.
Someone wrote that all of us who came to help with shovels and boots are a kind of representatives of the others who, for one reason or another, are not here. It’s a nice idea of representation – when there’s a need, to go and do what’s needed. Naturally, it is best to take care of systemic solutions so that there are no further victims. But until we get to the systemic solutions, people here and now need our shovels, our wheelbarrows, our energy, and maybe even our silly jokes to keep not only their homes, but their smiles.
I know wrong steps in the virtual echo loudly on countless Facebook accounts, but I think right actions in reality have a little more value. At least while helping real people see the real walls of their real homes again.”
