Mohtalim

I have two new favorites.

The first is "Ninjas killed my family." I think that's actually a beggar's meme that has spread across the country, but I still like it.

The second is one guy in the park about three weeks ago. He waved at us and said, "Hey, do you guys know anything about this beer change the drunks keep telling me about?"

I automatically go, "No, sorry."

He says, "Don't be sorry! Be surly!"

There was this bum on the beach in san diego when I went out last weekend and the guy asked me if I had a hundred bucks on me. Damn, it's expensive in Cali.

The other day I was in the south side and some guy asked me if I had a quarter (for the bus, I think). I told him I had six cents (true), and he said "that'll help". I gave it to him because he didn't look like a bum.

New adventures! There was a sort of a hippie/bum girl by the river wearing a tank top. She was sort of flirting and begging simultaneously. She had "BEER" inked on the skin of one breast and something else on the other. Might have been "CHANGE", I'm not sure. Anyway, it was a lot more cleavage and smiles than one usually experiences in the beggar/beggee relationship, at any rate.

For those of you who aren't aware, Sombrero Guy is on the move. When we were freshmen, he always hung out in Squirrel Hill. Over the years, he moved down Forbes, eventually showing up on campus somewhat regularly, then by Craig Street, and then progressively further down past Pitt. And then he completely disappeared from the immediate area about two years ago. The last actual sighting I know of is when my friend Dan saw him hitchhiking along the highway a few months ago, about 20 miles from Pittsburgh. Current reports (via Craigslist) indicate that he has moved to Morgantown, WV.

http://www.soufoaklin.com/1203.html

Just spotted: Man sitting on trash can, feet dangling in midair. Dressed on in black and wearing a huge pirate captain's hat. Carrying a fishing pole with an empty cup fixed to the end of the line, dangling it hopefully in front of passersby.

There's a guy I sometimes pass when I'm riding my bike home from the PTC. He's about our age, and the first day I saw him, he gave the woe story that he just got out of the hospital and was trying to get home to his family. Then I saw him again the next day. I went out of town for a few days, didn't see him for a day, and then saw him again. The next day, I saw him as I was going in to PTC in the early afternoon, and this time he was walking up Bates, towards his usual hangout spot. I've been thinking of asking him what his situation is (to see if he still tells me he just got out of the hospital), and how far away his family is, and how he hopes to get there.