I live in Steven's Point, the town That 70's Show is based around.
Let me tell you about some of town crazies we have here:
-Carl:
Wearing a camo jacket at all times and constantly drunk, Carl is one of the best people on this list. He will glady walk up to you on the street and compliment you for no reason. He spends his days walking from store to store, offering to sweep their floors in exchange for gossip and good conversation before going on his way. Apparently he does own a house in town, but much rather prefers to sleep in the Sculpture Park.
-Dave:
Oh Dave...
My first year here, I was walking through campus during the daytime on my way for sexy-times with the gf. There was a guy I passed wearing an old dress-suit who otherwise looked very respectable. He stopped me for a conversation, started ranting about what the "cops keep telling me to do," and otherwise acted like I had known him for years and we had been talking for the last 3 hours. Oblivious to my attempts to politely sneak away, he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "but it's like I said before right? If you have a problem with someone, you should totally be allowed to kill a man!"
I see this guy wandering around town as well, he likes to socialize with store owners about government conspiracies and random bits of pop-culture. He's the kind a guy who will just never stop talking to you and not only expects every word out of you to be in agreement, but demands it.
However, a few months ago during a thunder-storm, I ran into a local place for some quick dinner only to find that Dave followed me in. While I waited, he treated me and the cook to a pleasant, if unwanted conversation about photography.
So the meds must be working, or else I just left before the photography talk morphed into something worse.
-Old Dude:
Normally, I tend to try settling issues on my own or simply let them resolve themselves. The only man who ever propted me to call the cops was Old Dude.
I normally see him, limping around the library and complaining to everyone he can about his "damn leg," and otherwise giving out greetings that don't match the time of day. (Just a few weeks ago I got a friendly "good evening," at 7:00 AM.) However, I do see him wandering the residential areas sometimes, and one fatefully day he must have been nearby and saw me walk into my house. Old dude spent the next 40 minutes walking in circles around my small home, I could hear him mumbling something incoherent (I assume some kind of incantation) and he also brushed against my front door and walls. I was on the phone with the local police by the time he spotted a young couple walking on the other side of the street, and wandered over to them.
-"They See Me Rollin."
A morbidly obese latino woman who patrols the sidewalks on her motor-scooter, flanked by her slightly smaller sister (also on a motor-scooter), and an escort of small dogs. They generally scoot from place-to-place and have no intention of stopping for anyone, (literally, I was tying my shoe on the sidewalk and she just kept charging forward, nothing said, no attempt to stop or divert her path.)
-The "Deaf" lady.
Pretty normal actually, this lady looks like a stunt-double for Professor Trelawney and sticks to school areas and gas-station. She hands out little slips of paper that say "I'm death, and I'm perfectly capable of careing for myself. Any money given to help me survive my condition is greatly appreciated. May god bless your soul."
Out of curiosity, I followed this woman at some length after she moved off. I saw her (speaking) order at McDonalds with the money she earned in front of the University Center.
She also works at a local grocery store and is very capable of talking, so much that she actually excels at being a bitch.
-The Incredibly Friendly, if Mysterious Group of Radical Christians.
This is a whole organization that I have never been able to understand.
They usually just line up on the sides of streets wearing signs that say "ABORTION" on them, but make no other statement about the topic.
Two or more make regular appearances on campus where they set up camp with a megaphone and banners and start preaching. Every time they attract a large crowd of students who try to be edgy and make anti-religion signs and chant stupid pop-culture stuff. Thing is, I actually tried listening to one of their speeches and it pretty much had no negative comments in it at all. In fact, I have never hear these guys talk about anything other than your typical "love god" stuff, and I have spent serious time at three of these little encounters. If you can't hear these guys talk about love over the screaming of 20 year-olds, you can always grab a brochure that is pretty-much written in gibberish and makes no coherent sense at all. Complete with an out-of-date website.
And just last summer, I got a paper slipped under my apartment door (in a locked and secure building) about a religious conference featuring these folks. The wording on the paper was just as incomprehensible as anything else, except some keywords about Apocalypse and love.
The best part? These people are literally the nicest people in town. I saw one of the sign-wearers go out of her way to pick up and return a long-board to some kid who had fallen. They will reguarlly hand out change to people who ask, compliment you as you pass, and simply wear a lovely smile at all times. The speakers are also really kind, and I saw one of them have a long talk with a flaming gay dude, and both of them hugged after.
This is literally just the surface.
