Was there a "colorful character" in the neighborhood or town where you grew up?

Question

We had the "junkman" in our neighborhood. He wore a large black overcoat and a black hat, no matter the weather. He had a mangy black dog and pulled a wagon and used to go door to door about once a month collecting junk. We never knew his name. He was just "The Junkman."

Answer 1

We had a weird dude that raised bees -- really strange (valedictorian of his HS graduating class -- if that has any bearing)

Answer 2

My mom had "The talk" with me. It was so ... Awkward 😂😭 but trust me you do need the talk if not from your mom from someone of authority or you'll be running around with your vagina scretched so far you can fit a mop in there. She just told me the basics like "Do it with someone you love and use protection always and don't have sex in highschool" stuff I kinda already knew. Well, i'm assuming that's what she wah saying I wasn't really listening because I know to use protection if I even want to have sex like I know not to let a guy use me and wait until when I'm ready.

Answer 3

Lawrence, a bachelor, lived in my small town for about 20 years after retiring from the service. He owned 10 acres of forest land on the edge of downtown and had a small house there completely hidden from the road. He was a mechanically talented person who once restored an antique fire engine. His main transportation was a bicycle which he rode regularly. Spent many hours bench sitting on the town square, but would rarely engage in conversation. A pleasant, competent loner would best describe Lawrence.

Lawrence stumped his toe, it became infected, he refused to go to the doctor. The postman found him dead on the kitchen floor one day.

He left $4,000,000 to the Salvation Army! Who'd ever thought?

Answer 4

Mr Croy was our colorful character. He was 90 something and the sweetest man you would ever meet. He would ride around on his riding lawn mower cleaning the ditches out and picking up trash. He would hang out at the local Grocery store and Gas station and flirt with all the girls. I worked at a little mom and pop diner and he would come in and order sweet ice tea because if he ate his wife would know he was over there and get on to him. He was so interesting to talk to. He would tell us about the first time he saw a car and a plane. He said when he got married he had a dollar but all he got out of the deal was a woman and a quarter. They would have to walk to town or take the horse and buggy. I love elderly people like that. They have so much to tell us. Can you imagine what it must have been like to witness all of the inventions and changes during the 20th century?

Answer 5

When I was a little girl, I had a neighbor, Mrs. Boyd. I thought she was about 100 but in retrospect, she was probably about 70. She was from Germany, blind, almost deaf, spoke very broken English, and a wonderful person. She taught me a song (which I still remember), crocheted clothing for my doll and made apple strudel. Some of the neighbor kids were afraid of her but for some reason she took a liking to my sisters and me. To this day, I've never had apple strudle as good as she could make.

Answer 6

Not where I grew up....but yes, where we raised our children....we had 'the witch' at the other end of the block ...(practicing..pentagrams in her yard, etc.) you can bet she was a target - though a very nice young woman AND we had 'the crazy lady' across the street..would sit on her porch yell at the birds if they sat on her lawn, if we had a party or large gathering she would walk the street and take down all of the license plate numbers...because you never know the FBI might want them...lol
Oh and don't forget the satellites that were beaming things to her TV....but in her sane moments, she was nice as well.

Answer 7

Let me preface this by saying that I was raised in rural Indiana
on my grandparents farm and females smoking back then....and there, was really frowned upon. There was Etta, ( Et, rhymes with met) who lived in a little old shack without electricity, back in the woods from everyone. She was very poor but always made sure she had her cigs. This was so strange and odd to me. If she couldn't find anyone to pick them up for her....of course she had no car, she would walk the five miles to our closest little store.
She was very strange and no one befriended her except my grandparents and me. Grandma would fix her a plate of food at supertime and I would walk it down to her and then stay and visit with her ( with the only light coming from her coal oil lamps.) I visited her on other occasions too as I found her stories interesting. The story grandpa told me was that she had chased her husband around and around that shack, naked, with a knife once. She was a kind old lady living alone and we felt sorry for her and I never believed she could be mean. But who knows?

Answer 8

My grandmother eventually was the colorful old lady. She suffered from alzheimers but before we had the diagnosis she began to be combative and curse at strangers. She lived in the house next door to the church her husband had pastored. The church gave her the house when he died. About 20 years later a new group purchased the church and approached her about buying the house to make a larger parking lot. She was livid. On Sunday mornings if the people so much as stepped one foot on her beautifully maintained lawn she was out on the porch cursing them for all she was worth. She threw tantrums in the grocery store, too. At first we were embarrassed, then we laughed then we coped.

Answer 9

In our town in lower Delaware there was an old black man (well to me he was old...he was probably actually in his 50's) who, after spending the day working in the canning factory would hook bottle caps to his bare feet, take his harmonica and put a coffee can over it and walk around playing songs and 'tap' dancing. Then came the NAACP and told him he couldn't do that anymore because it was demeaning. Nosy busybodies!
Everyone loved old Jingles. I heard he had left town after that and I don't know where he went. I often wonder what happened to him. I still remember his stories of growing up way back in the country in Georgia.
Our town was so small, that after Jingles left,the town fathers took turns being the town character.
It was so small, we didn't have a town square, we had a town triangle. When we had a parade, no one was there to watch it because everyone was IN it.
he he

Answer 10

Yes, when I was a child there was a man who lived nearby that we kids dubbed "Mr. Keep-Out". We only knew him by that name. He had a fence all around his yard and various other barracades. He also had a zillion signs that said, KEEP OUT! Being inquisitive we kids wondered what the heck he had behind that fence. He was never friendly to anyone( even adults) and he seemed to so badly, want to keep us out. He had a dog that would bark at us if we were nearby. We tried to be friendly but he just yelled KEEP OUT!.We lived near a river, that back then, flooded the area and even when the adults would knock on doors to tell neighbors to evacuate, he would yell his famous"Keep out!"

One day, because I was the smallest and the nosiest I guess, the bigger kids hoisted me up to take a look over the fence. I was to report to the others what great treasures I saw. But, instead I fell flat on the ground and the big dog came over yapping at me. Fortunately I wasn't afraid of dogs and the dog didn't bite me. But Mr Keep Out was madder than a hen and yelled at me "you, little missy better keep out of my yard!!". The kids laughed their heads off and I was disappointed because all that was in his yard was junk.. No great treasures, no big surprises. Just a fall on my back and a few laughs from my friends.

Answer 11

We had Belly Button Betty, a lady who would walk up and down the street in skimpy-***ed clothing all year round and flash her breasts at pretty much anyone (adult or not) who'd stop to talk to her.

I never did find out exactly what her 'issue' was....definitely crazy, but there very well might have also been some drug involvement. 'Twas sad....