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The Angry Bum
by Kevin Wilson on Thursday, December 30, 2010 at 3:16pm

Gay Street, Knoxville Tennessee. A virtual ghost town. What used to be the absolute center of downtown now a mere shadow of a city that has imploded on itself. The buildings remain but most are abandoned. A sad reminder of Gay Streets glory days from decades past. I walked this street daily for years to and from my job at Baptist Hospital.

It was on this street that I became aware of the Angry Bum.

He was an old man with a long white beard. He always wore a longshoreman's hat and was covered in a crazy menagerie of tattered blankets. Underneath he wore clothes in various stages of decay and dis-repair. To the best of my knowledge...he never wore shoes. He walked around either barefoot or wearing socks. He would walk down Gay Street drunk and yelling "Goddammmit!!! ****!!! ****!!! FUUUUCCCKKKK!!!" and waving his fist at the skies. Even when you couldn't see him you could hear his cries echoing off the buildings and through the streets. I have never seen a person as absolutely discontent as this man. Why he was so angry and at what I'll never know.

Anyway...I'm walking to the bus stop on my way home from work. It's around 6:30 at night. Gay Street at this time is even more deserted than usual. I can hear the Angry Bum, his screams echoing down the street. Eventually he rounds the corner and he's heading in my direction. My first impulse is to cross the street and get away from him but then I decide to just keep walking and hope he ignores me. He's muttering to himself in between angry outbursts as he walks towards me. I keep my head down and keep walking. Finally...our paths cross. The Angry Bum looks right at me. I can FEEL him looking at me. I look up. He has the most piercing, beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen. They are absolutely hypnotic. I had never noticed them before. He gently says to me "Good evening." Surprised I say "Well, good evening. How are you?" He says as politely as can be "Absolutely fine, thank you." and keeps walking. His voice was gentle. Soothing even. It was the most unexpected exchange I could ever have imagined.

Seconds later behind me I can hear him again. "****! FUUUCCCKKKK! God DAMMITTTT!!!!!!!"... and even though I don't look back to see... I just know he's shaking his fist at the skies again ....

why is anyone angry...really?

I dunno'? Not breast-fed? Draconian toilet training? Who knows?

awwwwww so that's why my boys are so pissed off....improper potty training

dang!!!

Maybe this dude couldn't get laid. I mean....he was obviously anti-social....and he,like......walked around in a longshoreman's hat, dig? You know the type?.... One of those yellow monstrosities.....like the Gortons fisherman.......

I get the picture...lots of em here on the coast and they really do need the big hat.
what goes on in the minds of others...I shudder to think. I can barely handle my own mental state, and when I talk to myself, and I do. : )

I think if you see a sign that reads "Gay Street," you should turn and walk the other way.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I don't know i stopped reading at "gay street" but i'm sure it was good.

Jeezus.....you don't get out much do ya'?

No i get out alot. My little brother is gay and he thinks because he's gay he can do no wrong and gay people are the best at everything which is a BS statement considering no one is better then anybody else. So when i see or hear the word "gay" I just want to call him and put him in his place. Hows that?

It's just the name of a street dude. Chill out! The story has nothing to do with gays. It's a street in Knoxville........

....and if you had actually read this before you commented then I wouldn't have had to explain this to you.

OH nevermind lol that was a good write dude

Thanks, man!

Ahhhh,,I think you two should kiss right now,,and make-up!!





I KNOW,,,God will get ME for that remark,,,lol

Nice write man,,and I'm just kidding ya...

What is life without a sense of humor

Awesome!!
Good on you for not crossing!
Double good for seeing the beauty in his eyes...
mirrors to the soul?
Either way...