Our local crackpot, a frumpy old coot with a head of wooly white hair, stands on this corner frequently, holding signs with anti-Obama screeds. He's also big on stopping "foreign trade" which he believes will be American's "downfall". And he loves "the troops."
Sometimes he'll walk along cars stopped for a red light and try to sell small American flags.
He looks to be in his 80s, and lives in a beat-up old trailer some 100 yards north of the intersection where his lot and trailer are plastered with similar signs.
But the signs on the fence, which are just a few feet from where he's standing in the first photo and which I have not seen before, have two new concerns: "Help the Salvation Army," and "Marion County Panhandlers."
It's the latter I find amusing for often there will be several panhandlers begging for money on this corner. The police chase them off as they are thought to be a nuisance and a distraction to drivers trying negotiate the heavy traffic. As I recall, the county commission passed an ordinance which forbids begging here precisely because of the amount of traffic.
But who are the Marion County Panhandlers? Do the panhandlers in Marion County now have a union? And if they don't get enough money from the public do they go on strike against the public? How would that work? It's all very confusing!
24 comments:
Your title literally laugh out loud!
To each his own I guess...
I guess he does not hinder traffic as do panhandlers
Poor man.
I remember this guy.
Perhaps he can go work for the Salvation Army and kill a couple of birds with one stone...
And BTW, what if I buy secondhand goods that were made overseas?? Is that still good for America?
You have given this guy a lot more thought and attention than he deserves.
You would think that the Salvation Army tends to work for the same purposes as the Democrat side of things, at least nominally...
Emphasis on crackpot.
I like these as much as I do campaign signs.
Every village as at least one. :)
Some people seem to have the simple solution to the world's problems. It's as clear as a bell....to them anyway. I do love the idea of the panhandlers union. I wonder what the dues are.
We have a few of these "crackpots" around these parts too.
Hmmmm. I'd say "only in Florida" but that would be a lie! We have crazies here too.
We readily welcome NUTS to the U. S. of A. Case in point.
Aww! Bet he thinks the rest are all crazy :)
Some folks just scare me. Did he see you taking pictures of his signs?
People seem not to be scared by the CIA torture methods but of some poor guys !!!
Margaux
Exercising his right to freedom of speech, I guess!
Not a guy I'd like to have a conversation with. There would be little give and lots of take.
I am glad you have your picturesque crackpot: we have so many, and much more insidious than him...
Thanks for reminding me that these kind of people are either to be laughed at or to be pitied ... their crackpot ideas are not worth stressing over.
I do wonder why the Commissioners don't think this guy and his signs are as much a traffic hazard as the panhandlers.
Does he support the panhandlers of other counties?
Does he support the panhandlers of other counties?
Does he support the panhandlers of other counties?
My wife and I call him, "Pappy" and his wife is, "Cowgirl Jane." I've never seen him or her walk among the cars. Both maintain a presence on the sidewalk or center median. His signs were stolen and he put up signs asking for their return. At least he makes the signs big enough to read, if only they had more thought on the layout. The beggars have returned and make the Northeast corner their gathering place with bicycles and refreshments. I wonder if the teeth of the anti-panhandler ordinance is not being used or did they just forget?
To Mr. Sharp: Thanks for your comment but do I detect a touch of sympathy for this clown? He's a major nuisance not to say anything about his overwhelming ignorance. He certainly has the right to express his opinions even if they make no sense but his presence and his signs sre liable one day to cause a major accident. And I've seen him on several occasions walking among cars stopped by the light selling small American flags. He's not doine that recently, however.
So far as the panhandlers go, their presence has greatly diminished. although they pop up every so often - testing the waters perhaps.
Yes, you do detect a touch of sympathy for a person willing to show his conviction. Well, on the corner of 200 and SW 60th, which I pass twice a day, it is now almost every day I see a beggar. Sometimes the Blocker people are with their tall signs and sometimes Pappy takes the corner in front of the drug store. What I have not seen is a return of the I-75/484 intersection mess. They used to be camped out at the top under the bridge and even walked up to stopped cars in the roadway pointing and shouting. I did not like that! Oh, and the bicycle crutch man is back at the corner for the SW Walmart entrance between Chili's and Bob Evans. I feel the need to hand each one an employment form for the Dakota pipeline.
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