I quite expect that most cities, towns, and even villages are much the same; there are certain people we encounter who fascinate us.
One such person I see almost daily. I occasionally see him miles away when I go shopping by car, but usually he's 'loitering' in the churchyard.
He's of average height, about 45 years old, and of the darker persuasion. I'm not an expert on the characteristics of Ethiopian natives, but taking a guess, I would say that he's from Ethiopia (or thereabouts).
Perhaps his most distinctive feature is a green plastic shopping Co-op bag that he takes everywhere.
His other feature is that he stands in one particular corner of the churchyard fiddling with his mobile, ALL DAY LONG.
Lady M and I have spent many hours wondering who he is and what he's up to. Is he playing some online game, is he a Russian spy, or maybe he's an oligarch moving shipping-loads of crude oil around the world.
Some people become permanent fixtures. There used to be a young man in the churchyard who would stand still for hours on end, staring up at the sky. I haven't seen him for a while; maybe he's been 'taken away'. Nor have I seen my 'Green Lady' for several weeks. She is the one who's covered from head to toe in green plastic rainwear, masks, etc. A very nice lady, who obviously has 'problems'.
So, back to my possible Ethiopian; who, I should add, is a very pleasant guy. We always exchange pleasantries, and I have recently discovered that his name is Al.
Can you suggest what he might be up to? Answers on a postcard to me here please!
I have no idea what he's up to as he's far too old to be texting with Ivor Caplin.
ReplyDeleteThe Brighton born, Labour, naughty boy, is (I think) in prison (?). But that wouldn't stop him receiving texts.
DeletePerhaps he gets a lot of important business calls and the graveyard is the only place he can get a good signal?
ReplyDeleteSomeone did suggest that he's escaping his wife and kids. Or maybe his wife has banned him from the house during daylight hours?
DeletePerhaps he's working on a new version of the hit song by Paul Simon - "You Can Call Me Al".
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's short for Al Cap-on; although he never wears a cap.
DeleteYou reminded me of how Poros has changed. There used to be a handful of these odd bods but in the last 20 years they've all passed on. Everyone on the island, looked after them, bantered and joked and teased them. They lived in their own little world . There's only one left that I can think of, Crazy Dimitri. He wanders the harbour talking about football. People shout him coffee . His sister feeds him and keeps him clean. He must get some sort of disability pension.
ReplyDeleteIn my 'youth' we lived just down the coast, and there were quite a bunch of these people. We used to refer to them as 'The Happy Circle'.
DeleteHe sounds like a genuine fixture. We have an elderly homeless bag lady in our local area who I see almost daily. And I know that she's genuinely homeless because I'll occasionally see her out there in all weathers late at night. And so I'll often give her a couple of pound coins to help her. I don't know how she got through last week's bitter frosty weather.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Park Lane bag lady scammers that I don't care for, who at the end of each day are all collected by someone driving a Mercedes car and probably taken back to some warm plush place. But the Police turn a blind eye...as always.
Those are the foreign gang controlled professional beggars. They are a bloody disgrace. Never give them anything!
DeleteI havn't come across them in the UK (but I live in a place where, fortunately, there are no beggars) but I came across them in one particular town in New Zealand when I lived there. They would come up and ask for money. If they didn't get any they got beaten up by their controllers. It was blatant and awful.
DeleteHe is contacting his alien,in the sky,counterparts for a Uber ride. And they are VERY busy.
ReplyDeleteYou could be close! In fact, I must ask him one day what he does. It's probably something very simple. I haven't seen him for a few days, I wonder if he's ill.
DeleteCro, the only Ethiopian I ever was around was a young man driving an Uber when we were in New Orleans. He was very nice, polite, and said how much he loved America. He could work and feed his family here. Something he couldn't do at home. With the changes coming soon, I sure hope he gets to stay.
ReplyDeleteAl is a very nice person too. Many years ago we had an Ethiopian neighbour. He'd been their ambassador to Sweden. He lived alone but had a huge family who visited at weekends. Another nice person.
DeleteNo job for Al? Maybe he is independently wealthy and chooses to wonder around meeting and greeting people like you.
ReplyDeleteI would love to ask him what he does, but it would be a bit rude. I shall wait until it crops-up in conversation. Watch this space!
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