Saturday, September 15, 2007

The Wavin' Guy

Every town has one or two. You know, those quirky downtown characters. My favorite is the wavin' guy

He's about 65, neatly dressed with a button down shirt tucked into khakis. He has an impressive assortment of new-looking baseball caps. He walks all over downtown, all the time. Everyone knows him. Why? Because he's the wavin' guy. He waves all over downtown, all the time.

He has several different waves. The jaunty little "hey there" wave, a gentle back and forth motion. The "hey, do you see me wavin'?" wave, a back and forth wave with a half turn that follows you. And, finally, the spastic " I can't stop wavin'" wave,a jerky kind of Heil Hitler wave. This last one occurs quite often, even when no one's around.

I always wave at the wavin' guy, even if he doesn't exactly see me. That guy always makes my day. I never thought about him being recognised by anyone else until yesterday. He's always just been MY downtown wavin' guy.

Yesterday Drew and I were downtown and Drew said, "There's the waving man."
"Hmmm, you know the wavin guy?", I sputtered.
" Yeah, the guy who waves to everyone".
"The spastic one who can't stop wavin at stuff?"
"No, he waves at people. You know, the waving man".
"It must be a different one". I can't possibly share my wavin' guy.

We drive back to take a look. Yep, it's the wavin' guy all right.
Me, "He just waves, I don't think it's at anyone specifically, he has some kind of neurological thing going on."
Drew, " He looks right at you and waves."

Hmmmmmmmm......... (ever notice I go hmmm a lot?)

I look at the wavin' guy (I'm always driving when I wave to him so I don't get to pay too much attention, but, this time I'm the passenger) he looks right at me and gives me a huge double wave. I wave back.

Wow, he really was waving at me. I almost feel famous.

13 comments:

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

We had a guy like that in my hometown, 'cept he rode the bus and shouted "Hellooooo!" at everyone.

I loved that guy.

Tori :) said...

My father in law lives in your town??

Millie said...

Maybe he's mistaken your yellow sedan for a cab and he's been hailing you all these years.

Does he ever do the Queen Elizabeth wave?

Bee said...

Well at least you guy waves and seems nice... mine tends to flip me off all the time! Can't think of why...?

Super Happy Girl said...

I'd mix it up and give him a left handed wave.

I have a guy in my town. I've been trying to get a picture of him so I can blog about him, but it's so hard, like you, I'm always driving when I see him.

B said...

I don't live in the city of Laguna Beach, but it's only a few miles from me. There used to be a guy there that waved to everybody. They called him the "greeter". He was there for years and years, but I think he must have died or gone somewhere else. But now at the beginning of the city limits, they have erected a statue of him and it's called the "Laguna Greeter". Maybe the greeter didn't die, but just moved to Texas and became the wavin' guy!
:) Brenda

elasticwaistbandlady said...

Our neighborhood wavey guy is always out walking his miniature dachsund.

Maybe this is exactly how folkie singer, Wavey Gravy, got his start.

Special K ~Toni said...

Obviously you are right! It is Waving Guy, not Waving Man!

We had one of those, then he was hit by a train. No shit. The funereal here in town was HUGE!

CG said...

Guess your right when you say every town has one or two. I can think of 2 right away. One of them used to stand at a corner with his dog every morning and wave(he has passed on) and then another old man and his horse stand in front of his house and wave. I think that is so neat and I get mad at drivers who don't wave.

Melissa said...

We had a wavin guy in the town I grew up in. Little old guy that would sit in his wheelchair out in front of his house. He passed away a few years ago and they did a big article in the paper about him!

Anonymous said...

We have a lot of 'hmms' around here too. Glad you're still waving.
Cheers

Lisa said...

Ok, I'm feeling a little left out. I can't think of one wavin' guy. But yesterday I did witness a fallin' guy-outside the Home Depot and then the cop put handcuffs on him. I'm serious!

Busy Bee Lauren said...

HAHAHAHA! In my neck of the woods we have a guy who rides his bike down Main street with no shirt (he is old by the way) and he dances and praises the Lord. His name is...Dizzy. He is cool to the max!