Who is this guy?

[swashbucklr]

There's someone I keep running into on my way back from Davis Square in the afternoons, usually when I get close to Powder House park. He's an older gent, with some speech issues. I usually have little idea what he's saying, and he says it loud enough that I'm a little uncomfortable around him.

Who is he? Does anyone know?

Comments

[georgy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he lives in that halfway house on Broadway between Ball and Powderhouse Squares. Sometimes he's just a little annoying but harmless, and other times I feel kind of uncomfortable, too. He's *always* out there, rain or shine, hot or cold.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I wish I were as convinced that he's harmless; the one time I encountered him, I was waiting for the bus, and felt so frankly threatened that I ended up walking to Davis. Extremely belligerant, chasing after me as I backed away.

[swashbucklr]

It's the constant repetition of whatever he's trying to say, plus the volume, that really makes me uncomfortable. I don't feel threatened, exactly, but I tend to call someone on my cell just before I get there, so I don't have to listen.

[st-darwin.livejournal.com]

I've felt pretty uncomfortable around him, and my wife started walking a different way to avoid him. The yelling + following + difficulty to understand is not a good thing.

I do have a data point in favor of the 'harmless' theory - I ran into him near Ball Square at about midnight one night, and he ran over to where I was yelling something. This was pretty soon after he'd spooked my wife, and I was plenty irritated about something else, so I unloaded and started giving him a piece of my mind about harassing people on the street.

He stopped, looked completely poleaxed and panicked, then ran away at speed.

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

see, i would love to do that too, but i'm 5'3" and slender and he is big and stocky, and i probably don't present the same figure as you do; meaning for you, he might get scared and run away, but for me he might just get really angry...

[thebostonian.livejournal.com]

Hm. I think I've had a run in with him too.

[four-thorns.livejournal.com]

i lived right on the rotary for the summer, i know the guy you're talking about. although i've heard from people that work in ball square that he's harmless, he once followed me and my dad down the street, yelling at us, for quite some distance-- we had to duck into the cvs to lose him. another time he came right up to my porch and started screaming at me.

i'm a rather petite woman. i don't care if he is "harmless". he scares the shit out of me.

[ludimagist.livejournal.com]

I've had him yell what I am pretty sure were obscenities at me, and once I think I made out a threat of some kind.

So far I have only seen him yell, but he doesn't make me particularly comfortable either.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

His name is Mike (I learned that from the convenience store owner on the corner of B/way and College). He's been there bellowing at people for the whole 7 years I've lived in Ball. He's not being given the supervision he ought to be. I altered my route to Davis to avoid him. Its on;y myu opinion, but I think he's part of the reason the powderhouse park is rather under-used.

That said, I don't think he physically accosts anybody. He loves yelling at people, but I've never seen it go further than that. On the occasions he went after me, I avoided eye contact and just kept walking, and a few times I yelled BACK OFF! and kept walking.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

I've had run-ins with him too. Once he accosted me in the laundromat there and went on this freaky barely intelligible Catholic-tinged rant. I don't think he *has* much of an "indoor-voice." Other times, when I've seen him, and he says "hi", I'll politely say hi back, but keep walking. I've seen him around for years (like the coughing guy, who I haven't seen in a while since I no longer live so close by).

[tisana.livejournal.com]

I don't know--he's never done anything but yell at me, but I've seen him being pretty close to accosting a couple he was following and shouting at--if they hadn't been moving so fast, he'd have been within inches of their faces. That's a bit like assault.

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

     he lives in a nearby halfway house; a friend of mine used to work there and claims that he was basically harmless.

     his rants frequently have a catholic edge to them, which is kind of creepy. he's threatened me before, but never actually tried to lay a hand on me.

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

     bostonians are uniquely unable to deal with crazy people yelling at them in public. the concept that yankees are "reserved" is only sort-of accurate, but it's definitely true that they have these tight little circles of public privacy, much more so even then new yorkers. as someone who wasn't raised here, i'm often the only one on the subway car who doesn't run to the other end when some loud drunk stumbles up. it's silly.

     and so, although i'm uncomfortable with this guy, i try to keep in perspective that he's just a rambling lunatic.

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

it just seems funny to me that everyone knows this guy and accepts the fact that he'll be there harrassing them
     see, i don't even really consider it harrassment. he's not cogent enough either to say anything personal to me or to make any sort of demand->consequence threat. it's just loud noise, with a superficial resemblance to human conversation.

I don't even want to give them the idea that that's ok
     this is something i ponder a great deal, actually. i'm not afraid of much at all, and my reaction to the nervous ranges from curiosity to annoyance. but i'm male and 6'4", and so of course i wonder how different my perspective would be if either of those were different. but my little sister is the same way. so then i start wondering how much of it is a regional thing...

     it always seems to me that people dwell too long on the state-of-nature case. by which i mean, they're evaluating who would win if they were thrown in a gladiator pit with person (x). but we live in a world of cell phones, street lights, passerbys, police, middle-class mores, national guardsmen, and fbi agents. tooth and claw isn't anywhere near as dangerous as one's ability to tell a persuasive story to the cops.

[catalyst.livejournal.com]

     sure, g'head.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

He once yelled at my husband "kill me, kill me now!" over and over again, which creeped him out. I consistently avoid eye contact with him and he's rarely spoken to me.

I deduced the existance of a halfway house in that neighborhood, as there are several other disabled men, including one who sits and smokes on the park benches with a notebook. It's sad that they aren't offered anything better to do, particularly in bad weather. And I wish they'd clean up the butts they leave.

[jadelennox]

It's too bad. The halfway house in our neighborhood has really sweet happy guys who get taken out on walks and are all friendly.

It's the rapist they caught who lives down the street on Mass Ave who freaks me out. Also, why the hell are they always catching flashers on the Minuteman? Is there something about the Minuteman that screams "hey, flap your willy here, guys!"

Er, sorry. Off topic.

Who is this guy?

[reed-davis.livejournal.com]

One night this summer he followed me as I exited the White Hen Pantry on Broadway. He tailed me for a couple of blocks while making loud threats. It certainly made for an uncomfortable situation.
I wonder if the people at the half-way house know that he has disturbed so many people. He could end up getting himself into a lot of trouble if he approaches the wrong person.

[tisana.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted to try it, even though I don't smoke.

[i-saint-jimmy-i.livejournal.com]

he actually sang a song to me and my friends one day,and then sat there and stared at my friends 3 yr old child.we thought it was funny.
but the truth is,he really isn't harmless if hes making some of you change your normal routines.
-AJ

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

My armchair diagnosis is that he's among the last of the untreated phenylketonurics, hence retarded, and while not docile like a Downs' Syndrome victim, still mostly harmless. His rants are mutated prayers from the Catholic liturgy because that is the context at which he usually finds strangers who are willing to speak with him.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

he was actually nice to me the other day, I walked by and smiled at him and he smiled, made a peace sign with his hand and said what resembled Peace, so I copied the action and walked on.

[simply-juniper.livejournal.com]

While I haven't encountered who you're speaking about I wanted to mention that there are mentally challenged adults living nearby. One in specific who talks to himself while listening to his headphones all the way down Boston Ave where he lives. He seems a little creepy at first but is a gentle giant. I used to work for the organization that helps these people out. Sometimes they seem creepy but they're probably not.

And please don't start telling me that this guy IS creepy because I can gather that from everyone's comments. I guess I just wanted to say keep an open mind about everyone you encounter.

[treecreeper.livejournal.com]

My bf and I lovingly describe him as "crazy guy"- as we take the bus at Powderhouse almost daily. We'll even give eachother a heads up if we're travelling seperately, and he's there.

My first encounter with him was severely unpleasant as he sat uncomfortably close to me and began to yell- causing him to spit all over me. It seems like he must be on meds though, as I've seen him be quiet as a mouse sometimes. My problem with him is you never know what to expect, but it's very possible that he'll get in your face and be VERY loud. Once he gets going, he's like a freight train.
Anyway, interesting to hear other peoples accounts of "crazy guy".

[ayalanya.livejournal.com]

hmm. i've run into him a couple of times - the first time i was waiting for a bus with a friend, and he kept repeating things like "i refuse to die. i refuse to go to hell. i refuse to be turned into chicken mcnuggets." he kept doing a sort of shuffling toward me, as i did a sort of shuffling away from him, and eventually said friend and i gave up on the bus - at which point he said "peace" and we walked away from each other.

the second time, i was on the other side of the street, and he made threatening sounds and told me to *stay* on the other side of the street.

i dunno. he does make me uncomfortable, but i've only seen him a couple of times, so i'm not too bothered - particularly since he's never made threatening movements, and i'm anal in general about my personal space so i don't even know how most people react to someone getting close to them while ranting about death and chicken mcnuggets.