I lived in a small town and there was a guy who’d ride his bike everywhere, with big metal panniers usually filled with soda cans. He’d be out in all weather, with high-visibility gear on, and would travel all miles outside of town with hundreds of cans piled on his bike.
When I asked people about him, they said he had a learning disability and lived with his mom, and would sell the soda cans for a little spending cash. Everybody loved him, especially the town government who paid him a stipend to clean up the town and let him keep anything he found. Since I helped at the local farmer’s market I met him quite a few times and he was always cheerful and friendly.
And people in high places would say he’s “useless” far too often. Oh well.
Glad the municipality at least recognized his efforts, I just mean that in general that doesn’t happen. Really shows that town had better priorities than most.
I hope the guy is still doing okay?
AFAIK he’s still doing okay. And the town definitely had its priorities straight. They kept out a Walmart and two chain restaurants because they didn’t want to change the character of the town.
We had the phone guy. He used to walk around town with a red plastic rotary phone, and occasionally tell passersby they had a call.
Then cellphones happened, and he just sort of… vanished.
It’s been a long time now, of course, but sometimes I still think of him and worry what it must have been like, being sort of outcompeted off his little self assigned ecological niche of sorts what must have felt like overnight. One day you’re the phone guy, next day everyone’s walking around with a phone on their ear, and you’re stuck with your old unplugged red rotary phone. Tragic.
Wow, that… that really makes you think. No wonder UFO nuts refuse to admit Roswell was revealed as Project Mogul in the 90s, their belief might be all they have left and if that’s somehow obsolete…
I live in Augsburg, Germany. We have „the king“. He just declared himself king of Augsburg about 30 years ago and everyone just went with it. He spends his days walking through the city looking after the wellbeing of his people. Here’s a video-portrait by the local newspaper for his 70th birthday (in German)
Certainly a better king than most!
Town I grew up in just had the alcoholic lady that hung around the liquor store trying to get free booze that everyone knew not to take money from, give money to, or give booze to because she would get drunk and start fucking up shit. She seemed nice, but that’s probably just because she was trying to score a drink.
I either live in the right part of the world, or the wrong part, because I’ve never seen this stuff.
IDK, we have a few legends like that around here, I presumed every place has at least one.
My town has the Q-Anon Shaman…
Sauce?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Chansley
About another 1.6 million people can also claim to live in the same town as the Q-Anon Shaman since he’s from Phoenix and you’d see him fairly frequently if you drive by the government buildings downtown before he was thrown in jail for his participation in Jan 6.
Oof, that guy’s probably ended up with a kiwiFarms thread.
We had Human Lego Man—a guy had a Lego Man costume and would just walk around waving at people.
We also have a roller blader with fairy wings who cruises up and down the Main Street, apparently flying. It was great when she had a baby, because she’d do the whole thing while pushing a pram.
