Putting the “Perp” in Perpetual
As I type this, there’s a man sitting outside the Perpetual Building at Georgia and Cameron giving people the finger and cursing at them. I never was really a fan of keeping the building after all the recent talk of tearing it down, but now it has a warm, special place in my heart. I managed to do a lap around the block by Mi Rancho and Tastee Diner just to snap a few less-than-conspicuous photos:
Crazy man inadvertently flipping me the bird
Crazy man giving the double bird to southbound drivers on Georgia Avenue
Crazy man telling me to fuck off and get a fucking haircut while flipping me the bird
His exact words to me were “Fuck you, you motherfucking asshole! Get a fucking haircut, motherfucker!” He managed to say something to that effect to every southbound driver at Georgia and Cameron. And I just got a haircut last week. God, I love this town.
28 comments Digg this28 Comments so far
Did you check his ESSCA card?
I think he’s a board member. I shouldn’t have to check his card, should I? And if he’s not, at least he knew not go tread within those sacred boundaries.
Quick! Let’s erect a statue of the motherf-er and claim him as our local hero!
Known affectionatly as “Socks” by the local police & SS patrol because he throws socks to himself & flings his own poo. Be careful out there…
Wow. If I’d have known that, I’d never have gotten that close.
I’d like to see him try this on Ellsworth Drive.
He barks at me whenever I’m walking my dog by him. He has also commented on how my little dogs poo is much smaller than his own!
He’d be in ‘cuffs so fast it would make his head spin. Okay – maybe spin *more*, but still…
Fuck you motherfucker get a fucking haircut!
I’d be mad at you too if you walked by Mi Rancho and didn’t bring me a margarita
Anyone have the nerve to get this guy’s “act” video taped so it can be placed on-line for all the world to see? I don’t!
YEa… this guys out newest neighborhood resident. Spends most of his time around Twin Towers.. either on the steps by the loading dock, or under one of the numerous overhangs around the building. When I don’t see him there I see him walking up ramsey, right next to Mi Rancho’s patio – nice night out at dinner, eh? DTSS’s homeless population has been heavily on the rise for the past year… yay bad economy.
If you had an iPhone 3g s, you could have gotten video…
I’m pretty sure this guy is a regular on the SOECA listserv.
Ah, wouldn’t we all like to sit on the corner and tell people what we *really* think?
There are laws against yelling motherfucker on a public street. I’m sure the patrons and owners of Mi Rancho and Tastee are not lovin’ this. The MoCo cops need to start doing their damned job instead of giving the guy cute nicknames.
“There are laws against yelling motherfucker on a public street.”
Um, no, there aren’t. That’s been part of the debate about “the kids” that hang out on the Promenade.
Jake – He has actually been arrested several times, so the MoCo Po are doing their job, but it’s not realistic for them to babysit this guy 24/7.
I spotted him last night at the drive thru bank on Fenwick, throwing his socks against the wall…
In an earlier post, I mocked this individual but now have thought better of it. There’s nothing funny about mental illness and homelessness. This person was not destined to be in the position he is now and it is a tragedy that he is. Who knows what contributions he would have made (or could still yet make) to society if he got the treatment he needs.
Along these lines, I’ve long been perplexed over Silver Spring’s romantic treatment of Norman Lane (aka, the Mayor of Silver Spring, a homeless man and and “town drunk” according to the statue of him in an alleyway off of Georgia Avenue). Maybe I had to have been there, but what is so charming about homelessness and alcoholism? I’m all for remembering the contributions of members of our community, regardless of their status in life, but it the local view of the Mayor strikes me as a bit rose colored.
David,
One would hope we are celebrating something other than Norman Lane’s alcoholism and homelessness with that statue. How do we find out? Let’s hope it’s not just modernity being self-congratulatory. William Blake would be pissed.
Socks
It seems Socks has some lucid moments now and then. That having been said, I know plenty of people from this area who thought he was not worth the Han Solo treatment he’s received.
In this increasingly anti-social society, we will mock people, erect statues of them, anything but assist them in living a productive life. A humane institutional setting might be the best place for him. But such a place is expensive, and does it even exist?
In the 1980s and early 1990s, I encountered many men who behaved similarly. One even grabbed me one evening as I emerged from at Metro stop and intimidated me into signing a petition and giving him $5.
Yes, these people are making the people around them suffer. More treatment slots for mental illness and substance abuse is sorely needed. And we must preserve the housing we have. How many homeless people are crazy to start with? How many go crazy after living on the street?
I wonder if this man is a client of the Shepherd’s Table, it’s not that far a walk from the Perpetual Bldg.
I haven’t seen this type of thing for a while in Downtown. I thought the Fenton Street 7-Eleven was the preferred hangout (near that funky, weird little store that sells alcohol).
In olden times, the original Silver Spring McDonald’s was a magnet for these types.
I spotted this guy on Monday, June 22nd, walking south on Georgia Avenue from Fidler Lane to Colesville Road. As he was walking he was intensively “reading” a sheet of paper upon which were line after line of scribbles.
Working at the MLK Library where I deal with people like this every day, I know them when I see them. This man really needs to be on medication but in all liklihood will never receive it.
It is all so terribly sad…
I see this guy all of the time. I started calling him Wallballman because of the same reason people call him “Socks”. He reminds me of playing wallball when I was in middle school. He always has random words written on paper that you can often find on the ground in the parking garage by Tastee.
I live in Twin Towers and see this guy pretty much every day. He is practically a resident. My husband and I call him Cast Away (if you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know why). He is generally pretty quiet. Recently, I found a piece of paper he posted. It was a list of things to ponder and there was no cursing or anything particularly disturbing about the questions themselves. The paper is at home right now but I remember that some of the questions included:
* What country was the brassiere invented in?
* Can a Great Dane breed with a Yorkshire Terrier?
* Can a man swallow food if he is hanging upside down?
Tom & Kristy – I have also noticed that he writes a lot of things down and makes lists of peoples names… Marilyn Monroe and Frederic Remington are 2 that I remember. I was buying something at 7-11 one night and he poked his head in to tell us that Albert Einstein was responsible for nuclear weapons.
I’m wondering if he has any relation to Charles Manson.. there is a striking resemblance!