Characters you had in your neighborhood growing up.

I had a bunch: The Hawk...a guy in his early 20's, first showed up aroynd the Chevy Chase Circle area of DC when I was in 7th grade. He rode a bicycle with about 150 different ornaments on it, had an ink hawk on his forehead, rode the bike like he was in a race, you would see him everywhere, If he liked you you were allowed to call him Ronnie, otherwise it was "The Hawk to You", wore a black leather jacket year round, no shirt under it in the summer, built like a bodybuilder, called himself "the protector of all women", very scary, yet entertaining guy. I was too young for him to kick my azz, so I just watched him perform his various eccentricties.

Lemeyon P. Butler, A black man, always 3/4 buzzed, did odd jobs all over Chevy Chase, always asking"you got any whiskey"...no Lemeyon, I'm only 12. always asking if "you got any spare change" he always got money fron most anyone he asked, he was a terrifc storyteller, greatly beloved and harmless as a kitten.

The Lone Wolf...punk juvenile delinquent, always carried a switchblade and a length of chain. rode a bicycle also with a small metal tag attached to the seat that read "Lone Wolf, No Clubs", scared me to death every time I saw him, this was in my 10-12th years. In senior year of High School I was at some party in Bethesda, he shows up, hadn't grown an inch, I asked him if he used to go by Lone Wolf, upon confirmation, I dropped him with 1 punch.

Tom Mc Garraghy, was mentally challenged, not physically, as he would chase every Fire Engine until he caught up with it at a Fire or an accident, he's still around, an Usher at Blessed Sacrament at Chevy Chase Circle, at every Mass every Funeral every Church event, there is a special place in Heaven for Tom.
 
I got a bunch more, let's hear about yours!

We had the Moth Man.  He used to ride around on this ancient girls bicycle with a butterfly net.
 
There was also the house that we decided gave out apples with razor blades in them at Halloween because none of us would admit we were afraid to go into their spooky-looking yard.  I think we also decided a witch and warlock lived there.
 
And then there are the people who still live across the street.  They're nudists, but only in their own front yard.  I'll let you make up your own stories...they'll probably be pretty close to true.

You Can't Always Get What You Want
 
In our town of Excelsior, MN we had Mr. Jimmy. Mr. Jimmy used to be the town character who would walk all day and visit the many shops and sit on the public benches and talk to everyone. Back before 1973 our town had a good ol' fashion amusement park with a dance pavilion. The Rolling Stones came to town to perform in 1964 and a legend goes like this (from Wikipedia).
 

According to legend, it was in his capacity as town ambassador that Hutmaker attended a concert by the Rolling Stones at the Danceland Ballroom at Excelsior Amusement Park in 1964. The next day Mick Jagger was having a prescription filled at Bacon's Drugstore when he encountered Jimmy again. Jimmy complained to Jagger that he had ordered a Cherry Coke but received a regular Coca Cola instead, then dismissed his own complaint, saying "You can't always get what you want."[5][6][7] Five years later, on their 1969 album Let It Bleed, the Stones released a song titled You Can't Always Get What You Want - and references to a drugstore, a cherry soda, a prescription, and "Mr Jimmy" (Hutmaker's nickname around town) all appear in the song. A shorter version of the song was released as the "B" side of Honky Tonk Women in 1969, and it was named as the 100th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in its 2004 "500 Greatest Songs of All Time." Mister Jimmy's business cards had the lyrics to the song printed on their back sides.

 
Jimmy Hutmaker - Wikipedia

I'm just hoping my neighbors don't write about me

In the deep South we don't really consider them "characters." They are just the people you see all the time. The town constable who was a midget comes to mind immediately.

felix4067


We had the Moth Man.  He used to ride around on this ancient girls bicycle with a butterfly net.

There was also the house that we decided gave out apples with razor blades in them at Halloween because none of us would admit we were afraid to go into their spooky-looking yard.  I think we also decided a witch and warlock lived there.

And then there are the people who still live across the street.  They're nudists, but only in their own front yard.  I'll let you make up your own stories...they'll probably be pretty close to true.

Whats' your exact address!

Rogo----ya mean liitle Joe---sure we remember that guy.  Broke all the windows in the neighborhood and now he's replacing them for big bucks.
 
In Brooklyn we didn't have no characters.  We was all nice respectable kids and grew up perfect gentlemen except the girls.. 
 
Like My Cousin Vinny the Lawyer.  he never said one curse word.
 
And, Nickel Norma, 2 cents with a GO card.
 
And Mousy---didn't have no last name---hung out around.
You know--- just around. 
 
And Big Mike the carpenter.  Yusta drink boilermakers and fall down a lot.  Never missed a day on the job though. 
 
And Chink the brickmason-----he wasn't Chinese but his eyes were always half closed, or half open---depends on the way you look at things. 
 
And Mr Harrison------was a teacher and always wore a bow tie.  We never seen him come outta his flat once he went in,
until the next day.  Someone said he drank a lot and someone said he studied so he knew more than the kids in his class.
 
And Patsy Carney---- fastest kid on the block and she was a girl.  That really stunk. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And
  
 
 

joerogo


I'm just hoping my neighbors don't write about me

Write about it? They have made music about it!
 

chewingthefat

felix4067


We had the Moth Man.  He used to ride around on this ancient girls bicycle with a butterfly net.

There was also the house that we decided gave out apples with razor blades in them at Halloween because none of us would admit we were afraid to go into their spooky-looking yard.  I think we also decided a witch and warlock lived there.

And then there are the people who still live across the street.  They're nudists, but only in their own front yard.  I'll let you make up your own stories...they'll probably be pretty close to true.

Whats' your exact address!

I'll let you know, but fair warning:  He's currently 82 and she's 79. 

We had the flasher.  Well sort of a flasher.  I was in 4th grade and walked home from school.  I'd hear a knocking, looked and there he was in the front window of his house.
 
In those days schools didn't do anything.
 
I hope that he was arrested some time later.
 
 

Tony Bad

joerogo


I'm just hoping my neighbors don't write about me

Write about it? They have made music about it!

 
 I'm a victim of circumstance!!
 
We had this Scamp in our neighborhood named Billy Heff.  Ohhh, I could go on for days about his antics.

Officer Bradshaw-the Chevy Chase Village Cop, was everywhere at all times, was mythic in his abilities to catch multiple groups of kids in multiple locations at the same time, huge man, 6'4" 280 at least, from Southern Maryland, Brad was a super influence upon reflection, we all feared him as much as anyone, although he never raised a hand to any of us, he simply took us home to our parents, that's when the azzkicking was meted out. It was not unusual to come home from Sunday Mass and find Brad in your kitchen finishing off Saturday nights leftover fried chicken, he made himself at home everywhere, and our parents loved it. Seemed like he was 24/7, 365. In Pat Buchannan's book "Right From the Start" he features stories of his group of kids  and the many funny run ins with Bradshaw.
True story...his last day on the job, in the early 70's he shot a burglar in the leg, the guy was breaking into David Brinkely's[TV Anchor] house. what a way to cap, so to speak, a legendary carreer. BTW, Brads son, is a patient of my older brother, an Orthopedic Surgeon. Many insights and stories from Brad's son also.

We had an Idiot Savant, his name escapes me, not trying to be funny, but he would stand on a patch of grass on Western Avenue and wave at every car that passed from Sunrise to Sunset, 365, weather made no difference, if you pulled over and said to him someone's name, he'd give you the correct phone number of everyone in the DC phonebook with that same last name.

The little town I grew up in had Wally, the town inebriate.  He would hitchhike up and down the highway.  Didn't matter which side, he didn't care where he went.  My Dad would always pick him up and take him home.

There was an old guy my grandfather was friends with, everyone called him "The Governor". Wandered around town every day, looking poor as can be, but was just a nice eccentric old man. He actually had an old house just outside of town, and when he died (well, killed, he got run over by a bus), his family (nobody knew he had any), found hundreds of thousands of dollars scattered around the place. Their greed lead them to tear the house apart until it was easier just to tear it down.
 
I almost got into a fight over another town character, Bob, he's a strange guy, mentally ill, but works hard and doesn't bother anyone.  Walks around with a broadband radio with a 5 foot antenna. He loves live music and goes to see any band playing in town, and dances by himself all night, he's a fixture. He has a rude nickname that someone called him to his face one night out at a bar, probably thinking he had no friends. I got up in the guy's face and told him to say it again, and I'd put his lights out for him. I'm not a small guy, and the jerk didn't expect any flak, the confused/worried look on his face was priceless.

I was born and spent the first 12 years of my life in Brooklyn, NY.  We lived in an apartment house, and the resident character was Mr. Atkins - we never knew his first name.
 
Old Mr. Atkins never had a sober day in the 12 years that I lived in that building.  One day he passed out on the stairs, and I had to step over him to get home after school.
 
Then my family moved to northern New Jersey, where I met up with a character named John Kelly.  He weighed about 300 pounds, so his nickname was "Heavy Kelly".  But, although he was fat, most of that weight was muscle.   He liked to show off by pushing cars up hills.  Many years later, a friend of mine who became a lawyer ran into Heavy Kelly in the Federal Courthouse in Newark.  He had just been convicted of counterfeiting, and he was on his way to prison.
 

When I was living on New York's East Side, there was a local homeless crack addict who used to sleep in the doorway of the place next door (often making it difficult for the residents to enter and leave). He was, among other things, a CI, so getting the police to rouse him was problematic. He made his living in three ways: he was a prostitute (something I could never quite figure out), he got money by begging, and he would try to get people angry enough to beat him up, then sue them and threaten to press criminal charges. He knew who NOT to get angry enough, as well. He was killed by getting hit by a car a few years ago.
 
Bart

One kid, poor, a real fighter and had hope and saw possibility in everything.
He was given a dilapidated boat by someone, but he loved it.
I remember when he said, "its a great boat!  It only sank once!
 
 

Our small Indiana town had quite a few characters back in the 50's. One that comes to mind is a young man, Bobby, pretty much mentally challenged, who hung out at one of the barber shops. The barber gave him a few bits to sweep up, since he hung out there anyway. 
Every time Roy, who was the barber, finished a haircut, he'd swoop off the cloth covering and say, "there you go, a gentleman and a scholar!" Every time.
 
But once, when he didn't say it, Bobby piped in with "there you go, a gentleman and a feller!"
Roy had a new catch phrase.