Last night my parents picked Autumn up from daycare and treated her to dinner out at Perkins. “Better you than us,” I said, thinking of our last dinner out with the girl. Our evening was a little more relaxing and as a result we decided on a short stop at the ice cream parlor before picking her up (I know, bad parents!).
The ice cream shop is a little walk-up joint with picnic tables housed under a covered patio. The place was crowded so Nathan and I decided to sit in the car with our cones. We had only been sitting there a few minutes when Bike Guy showed up. Bike Guy is someone we’ve seen around town on several occasions. Although it’s never been confirmed, we think he might be a little mentally challenged. Aside from riding his bike everywhere, he’s always wearing a set of headphones and singing at the top of his lungs.
Bike Guy stopped in front of the patio and parked his bike on the kickstand. He had his CD player in hand, headphones on his head and was singing very loudly. We’d been sitting in the car with the windows up and I asked Nathan to turn the key in the ignition so we could power the windows down. It was getting a little hot, but what I really wanted was to be able to hear this guy sing. He’s really not that bad.
Bike Guy just stood there by his bike and sang. Once in awhile he’d throw in a little dance move like a spin or some modest footwork. I watched him and watched the folks on the patio sort of pretend he wasn’t there. A family of five finished their ice cream and started filling into the van parked next to us. As he was loading his kids into their seats, I heard the dad say, “Don’t stare,” in regards to Bike Guy and his impromptu show.
I turned to Nathan. “I think that’s wrong, saying ‘Don’t stare.’ If that guy didn’t want people to stare he wouldn’t be standing there singing his heart out. He wants an audience.” The dad’s statement irritated me because it implied there was something shameful in Bike Guy’s behavior, when in fact Bike Guy was a lot more liberated than the folks sitting on the patio.
As I sat in the car with my ice cream, I started wondering what it was like to be Bike Guy. Why doesn’t he give up the CD player and just go with an iPod? What would he do if he was presented with an iPod? Would it rock his world or would it threaten his sense of security? Obviously that CD player is very important to him because I never see him without it.
Nathan turned on the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot to get gas at the Mobil station next door. As I sat at the pump waiting for Nathan to fill up, I could still hear Bike Guy singing to the patrons on the patio. I probably won’t be buying him an iPod, but I sure as hell will be applauding for him next time he sings for me.
{ 10 comments }
I LOVE this! Kudos to you for lovin’ Bike Guy for who he is!!!
Great post — I love it and your attitude/outlook!
Good for you, appreciating bike guy! Don’t give him an iPod. We gave one to the SIL a couple of years ago and she hasn’t figured it out yet.
I love it! He is obviously doing things he loves…riding bike, listening to his music and singing and a little bit of dancing…now I love all these things too but I don’t do them in public…except for the bike riding part and I guess I do dance when I get the chance…I don’t do them in public because we have been conditioned to not do things that others might find weird or with worry about what others will think…I sing along to music at home all the time or in the car…when it’s just me and the kiddo’s…I can NOT sing but I still love it.
What I love about children and those with challanges is that they haven’t been conditioned yet to worry about how they look…they just do what they love and they do it everywhere.
How sweet that you appreciated this man…what a gift he gave to you in showing this to you…what a gift you gave to him in not judging. I think many people would say “don’t stare” because they don’t want to be rude and also think it’s because displays like this make a lot of us uncomfortable and embarrassed.
Great story..thanks for sharing!
Lori, I also love how kids, especially little ones, are so uninhibited. It is a treat to see them go all out and express themselves with every ounce of their being. The flip side of that is they’re equally stubborn at times. It is a shame that we all tend to take ourselves too seriously as we get older. I think everyone should indulge their goofy side once in awhile.
Kathi-yeah I’m not planning on going the iPod route. I think this guy would benefit from knowing someone appreciates his singing. Thanks for stopping by.
I have an old ipod..and a broken one..if I got either one working I’d donate them to Bike Guy, although he seems to be doing fine with his walkman it seems.
We have a guy like that here…we call him Elvis…everyone calls him Elvis actually. Unfortunately he doesn’t sing so well, but he tells really interesting stories about his past, which I have found out are mostly made up…its still fun to see him around town because the man enjoys life..and how many of us are out on a sunny day with no shirt on, wearing a leather vest and belting out our favorite tune? I know not me. 
I grew up with an uncle with downs syndrome though, so I learned at an early age that the mentally challenged are the happiest people and we could probably learn a lot from them. Thanks for the story about Bike Guy…I bet that guy doesn’t realize he did his kid more harm than good.
hahahahha that’s wonderful. I love it!!!
Beautiful post – I totally loved the way you observed the whole situation in a completely different way. Too bad we all can’t be more accepting like that. And I think Bike Guy used to live in Columbus, OH because NO LIE there was a guy just like that who used to walk around downtown and I’d see him every day when I was waiting for the bus and he’d be belting out the hits with his big old headphones on. I haven’t thought about that guy in years until reading your post today.
Beautiful day to you!
I love how you choose to see Bike Guy. He probably doesn’t see himself as anything more or less than a guy who likes his bike and singing so why should anyone else look at him differently? We saw a small person at the grocery store once and my daughter said “Look at that little mama”, funny but it got me thinking that my then 3 yr old only saw her as a small adult(mama) and nothing more or less. She asked questions but then moved on. We should all be so blessedly unjudgemental.
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