Huuuuh!
Huuuuh!
Huuuuuuuuuh!
It was a familiar sound for two and a half years. Every day, a guy would pedal his big red tricycle down Newbury Street, yelling "Huuuuh!" all the way. I had not seen him since I graduated, but I was coming out of CVS yesterday and I heard his signature grunting. I stepped aside as his tricycle, adorned with a long flag pole and a Red Sox logo on the back, churned past me. Tricycle man. He's still going after all this years. Good for him.
I've certainly seen stranger things. There used to be an old man that would loiter outside the 7-11 on the corner. He'd stand there with his scruffy beard and his cane, wearing a hat, a long, greyish blue trenchcoat, and little else. Yup...no pants. Unless you count a thick layer of caked on dirt as pants, which I don't. It looked like he hadn't bathed since they cancelled The Chevy Chase Show. He always smiled and said "Hello." He never asked for money. There was a rumor that he actually owned one of the buildings in the area. Maybe he just liked to stand around all year and let the wind blow up his coat. Then one day, he wasn't there. I guess he passed away. Poor old guy. I hope wherever he is now, he has plenty of soap. And pants.
There's another old guy I still see every now and then. He's got thick black-rimmed glasses and always wears a beige security guard uniform. But sometimes he wears any combination of earings, a fur coat, a pink boa and high heels, in addition to the securtiy guard uniform.
I'd like to say that was the strangest thing I've ever seen in Boston, but I can't.
A few weeks ago I heard sirens outside my office window, I looked out and saw a fire engine coming from the wrong direction down one-way Newbury Street. It pulled up in front of our building. A couple of fire fighters got out and talked to a woman and what I'm guessing was her son. The woman and her son stood with the fire fighters while another took their picture, then they got back in the engine, turned on the lights and sirens, and drove off, still going the WRONG way down the street.
I'd like to say that was the strangest thing I've ever seen in Boston, but...
2 comments:
The Globe Hag...she used to wear white makeup and a Boston Globe jacket. I think Travis was the last person to see her alive.
People think we're making this up. That's the sad part.
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