May 28, 2008

Strange Days

Any day that I am fortunate enough to not only live through, but actually learn something from is a good splendid day indeed.
Retuning to my school on a morning that, if not for my teaching responsibilities would otherwise be considered ambrosial I witnessed something that caused me to re-evaluate the way I look at people.



Today I understood and agreed with a person who is absofuckinlutely, unequivically bonkers!



The man above is well known in the burg I live in. He carries the Moniker, Musen-Ojisan (The walkie talkie man). This guy rides through town making announcements on his walkie talkie in a voice so loud that you could use it to wash your car. Pretty much every city has a few of these people and they provide a colorful backdrop to the mundane goings on of everyday life.

More often than not we go about our tasks without giving these folk the time of day and to tell the truth we are often much better for it, but today was different. At least for me it was...

A red light caught me and stopped my forward progress at a rather busy intersection where there is always something going on due to it's proximity to both the prefectural offices and city hall. As I looked around I noticed the usual aglomeration of petitioners and hawkers and of course the walkie talkie man. He was gesticulating wildly and wailing at someone, via his handset, at a volume that theatened to cause permanent hearing loss to anyone within fifteen feet. Luckily I was waiting kitty corner and avoided the worst of the tirade.

Or so I thought...

Eventually the light turned green and life began to conform with Newton's First Law of Motion:
Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it

Mr. Talkie man had a definite impetus to the entire populace of the intersection.

As I was traversing through the crossroads a car started to make an illegal turn and majorly messed up the flow of all traffic, pedestrian, bicycle and automotive.

It was at that precise moment, when we all were oblivious to the intentions of the driver and the possibility of serious mishap, much to all our chagrin Mr. talkie Walkie man proved to be the only one who was looking around and realized what was happening.

Funny how we walk or ride through our days and nights and the crazy folk look at us and wonder why we don't look as shit a litle more closely.







Today's post was brought to you by the producers of:
Makers Mark Whiskey.
Planet Gong.
Leslie West and Mountain.
And
Stevie Ray Vaughn!

Hope you enjoyed it.

10 comments:

Kurt said...

Musen-Ojisan has one of those bikes with the generator for the light built into the front wheel hub. He is no madman.

Pink said...

good thing you dinnit get squished in the crosswalk. :)

xx
pinks

puerileuwaite said...

A wise Aussie band from the early 70's once proclaimed that "One" is the loneliest number. This observation would, on the surface at least, seem to readily apply to walkie-talkie man. But does it indeed?

Anonymous said...

After reading and nearly living thru this almost disaster, I'm glad to say you made it thru the intersection safe and sound. The shaken nerve is one true wakeup call. Know the feeling, that's why I drive like an old lady! Oh Wait! I AM an old lady! Drive safe please, what would we do without your blogs and pics. Great shot of the walkie talkie guy too.

JG

Serena said...

Glad it all turned out okay. Walkie-Talkie Man is kind of cute in a sad sort of way.:)

NYD said...

Kurt~ Them lights are standard fare on most of the bikes here. Weird that almost noone uses them.

Pikk~ No worries pretty Pinkadoo.
I am a madmad on anything with two wheels ...or two legs ;)

PUG~ One might be the lonliest number, but I don't think that has anything to do with that guy. There's a party going on inside his head.

ANON JG~ Get that blog going! We want to see what you look like. He he he

Serena~ No not cute at all. This guy is truly wacko. He can be kinda agressive and physical sometimes. Most folks stay clear of him.

lime said...

bless the weirdos, we need them whether we recognize it or not. glad you recognized it this time ;)

The Grunt said...

I am my town's "Walkie Talkie Man". Well, I would be if I at least had a damn walkie talkie!

Mona said...

that is because we are somnambulists.

We lack awareness.

( & I am not talking any 'Hindu mojo' as G man would put it :))

That is Law of motion? I thought it was law of Inertia! :D

I guess you must be right, It should be law of motion, because even when we are 'resting' we are traveling with the rotation & the revolution of Earth!

Misplaced, there were tigers too, but before I could take the tiger's picture, the tiger eated me :( I Swear!

moi said...

Even crazy is sane for at least a couple minutes a day. Glad you made it out alive and kicking.