One Last Tribute to the Old Neighbourhood...

I don't want to dwell on the past, and it is not like I am even sad anymore about not living downtown. Yes, I despise having to drive to work, and then pay for parking, but everything else I'm dealing with just fine. I do miss the characters of downtown though, they made for such good stories.

There used to be this guy, he always wore a red coat, jeans, and a winter hat. All he did all day was ride his bike, around and around the same route. ALL DAY. I"m not sure where this guy lived, or if he even lived anywhere really, but I found him extremely interesting.

This guy didn't just ride he bike, he swore and gave the finger to every car that passed him. Every single car. Up would go the hand, the finger would wave, and it would inevitably be accompanied by something along the lines of "screw you" or more likely "f*ck you!!". He would viciously wave his hand, the one with the finger raised, until either that car disappeared, or another one appeared, and he could start all over again. It happened to me several times. I often thought to myself, "what would happen if I shouted something back, or if I gave HIM the finger".I ultimately decided that it would upset the balance of things, and the situation could end up going horribly horribly wrong. Swearing and finger giving is his THING, and I sure didn't want to take that from him.

The strange part is, I walked by this man on several occasions. When I was walking, he never swore at me, and he never gave me the finger. One time, I even worked up my courage and said "hello", to which he simply replied like a normal person, "hello". So I don't know, I guess he just had some sort of inner rage towards cars. All cars. Perhaps he was bitter because he couldn't afford one himself, and his only mode of transportation was the bicycle. Or maybe he was really worried about the destruction to the environment caused by cars. Who knows! I'll sure as hell never know, because I never see him anymore. It kind of makes me a leeetle sad, because I really do want to know. I should have worked myself up into saying more than hello when I had the opportunity.

I haven't met anyone like that down in the North end yet.