Excuse the stereotypical and politically incorrect Subject line...really didn't know how else to phrase it.
Anyone who lives in Riverside see a really big guy, a small asian woman, a baby stroller (without a baby), and a really old dog?
Been hanging outside my apartment, making gestures, asking to use my cell phone, following me, etc. Seem to see this guy anywhere I go. My sister, who lives in 1661, is having the same experiences.
Saw the cops talking to them the other day, to no avail. Wondering if anyone knows the story behind these two? Getting creepy.
We came upon him once digging through someones trash and leaving it on the ground..we rev-ed up the tractor we were using and shouted him away (Him saying "Stop Yelling at me!") Funny.... he only got Fat the last several years.
She is called Yoko Ono by some and has been around here for at least 15 years. She will leave "Deposits" on your sidewalk and did this to Fans and Stoves for numerous years. JSO didn't like to get involved with poopy subjects and were no help, telling the owner to be more sypathetic..(OK JSO..YOU pick it up then!)
They have squatted everywhere around here and were given at one time a back apartment off Ernest St by a property owner.
Quote from: Ernest Street on November 05, 2011, 12:20:45 PM
We came upon him once digging through someones trash and leaving it on the ground..we rev-ed up the tractor we were using and shouted him away (Him saying "Stop Yelling at me!") Funny.... he only got Fat the last several years.
She is called Yoko Ono by some and has been around here for at least 15 years. She will leave "Deposits" on your sidewalk and did this to Fans and Stoves for numerous years. JSO didn't like to get involved with poopy subjects and were no help, telling the owner to be more sypathetic..(OK JSO..YOU pick it up then!)
They have squatted everywhere around here and were given at one time a back apartment off Ernest St by a property owner.
Are they dangerous or harmless?
I mean...what the hell is their deal?! Are they related? Lovers? Codependent crack heads? Psychotic? Just curious at this point...
Funny, saw them on Baymeadows near Florida Coastal School of Law two weeks ago--thought they may have been run out of the neighborhood. Guess not.
She,dog, and bf have been around for years. Story is she gets a check for psych disability and he lives off it. From time to time he gets arrested but they always reconnect. He is not as harmless as she is. The dog is devoted.
She is Korean. His name is/was Sonny. Dog is ??. Have seen Sonny selling cds and other stuff from the baby stroller. Have never heard her speak, but have seen him making deals on a cell phone.
QuoteHave seen Sonny selling cds and other stuff from the baby stroller.
I've heard so much about cds lately. I was wondering who had the nerve to sell those things after AIG. (Or buy them for that matter.)
It makes sense that only the insane or morally bankrupt place value in them. Who knew they originated from a baby stroller?
They are by name Walter Dickenson and Soon Yung. The dog is Tiny. Walter has taken care of Yung for twenty years or so. His mother and sister live in the neighborhood and help them. They are not drunks or druggies. They are not married.
Soon Yung has some sort of severe psychological problems, seemingly something on the autism spectrum. Once she has seen you around for a while and you have said hello a few times, she will very shyly say hello back, nothing more. I'm not even sure she speaks English. She has been known to drop trou on the side of the road to answer a call of nature, but only rarely and when she is off meds. When this starts to happen, Walter gets her back in the hospital for a while.
Walter is actually a nice guy to talk to, if a bit limited, but can get belligerent and defensive if he feels someone is threatening Soon Yung or himself. Left alone or treated with friendliness and respect they are perfectly harmless.
Walter takes very good care of Tiny too. She is aging and stiff so he loads her into the buggy and pushes her around. And yes, she is up on her immunizations and gets regular vet care. I checked.
Walter has developed some sort of medical condition which has caused him to swell up in the past year or so. It's not due to overeating, but something else.
Give them a wave when you see them next. They are among natures innocents and are making it through life as best they can together.
Quote from: buckethead on November 05, 2011, 04:22:39 PM
QuoteHave seen Sonny selling cds and other stuff from the baby stroller.
I've heard so much about cds lately. I was wondering who had the nerve to sell those things after AIG. (Or buy them for that matter.)
It makes sense that only the insane or morally bankrupt place value in them. Who knew they originated from a baby stroller?
Uhmm- He sells CDs, like the kind you get at the flea market--not the ones from AIG ;)
Quote from: Dog Walker on November 05, 2011, 04:48:58 PM
Walter takes very good care of Tiny too. She is aging and stiff so he loads her into the buggy and pushes her around. And yes, she is up on her immunizations and gets regular vet care. I checked.
You are right about that--I have never seen the dog being mistreated in any way. But I have seen Tiny sleep on the bench right along side of Soon Yung on Park Street. She/he never is on a leash but stays right with them.
This couple have been quiet the last few years.
They are part of our 5-Points culture as they used to squat where Mossfire and O'Brothers reside. There used to be quite the camping area behind those stores in the old days.
We have had and have a few authentic 5-Point Enigmas.
DW probably has seen the Knobby kneed Chicken legged black drag queen that creeps into 5-Points along Margaret street..Just like Comedian Flip Wilson doing his "Geraldine Character"..Or "Esther on Sanford and Son"
And we all miss "Green Jesus" that wore an Army Blanket robe and automobile tire flip-flops..often spotted along Park street or Blanding.
And we no longer have Jackie and Blackie with us. She always hung out in Riverside Park. She refused to live inside and her sister gave her money to live on. Someone "rescued" her dog, Blackie, which just about broke Jackie's heart. She died shortly afterwards from complications of alcohol induced diabetes.
Her young companion/caretaker, Donny, was off the streets for a while, but got kicked out of the house he was living in and has dropped out of sight.
"Chicken legs" is definitely strange; the worst wig in the world and the bobbing head are attention getting. He just sort of drifts along in his own world.
Paul is another neighborhood character. He is the neatly dressed, white-bearded man who always walks along briskly with a cane and keeps to himself. He is well known to JSO as he gets mean when he drinks which is whenever possible.
These different folk are part of what keeps Riverside interesting.
Wow
I knew Riverside had personalities, but not personalities like this!
Love it...
For a while we had the witch doctor who spoke broken Cajun/African/something...and would get mad and shout when he couldn't be understood.He wore tye dye and a woman's 3" hoop earring through his nose.(last spotted by King Street in a mellowed out form)
Then there is Carl on Stockton. He is a Rather tall man and nice. Carl's mother has distributed her # to several local stores and is called to pick him up if he gets too slurry chatty or obnoxiously drunk.
I wonder if the Rasta Guy in Springfield (Main St) is still around? he would tie discarded "weaves" he would find on the street into his dreads and dread beard.Kinda like George Clinton..he was getting pretty natty last I saw him.
This is what neighborhoods are all about!
Ahh yes, "Yoko No-No"... avoid these people at all costs. She's had the dog for a long time. She may seem harmless, but she will vandalize your property if you look at her the wrong way.
Ditto RiversideLoki. Sonny and Yoko have cost me hundreds over the years. Vandalism, theft, don't get me started. Ben please steer clear of these two.
What about the guy who walks in the road, talking to himself - or everyone, and dancing and gesturing to passing cars? I've seen him on Edison, Stockton, and even on Bay Street, near the Convention Center. Anybody know his story?
Then there's the woman who panhandles at various intersections along Park. Stands out in the middle of the road and comes up to cars caught by a red light.
Quote from: 5ptscurmudgeon on November 06, 2011, 03:17:42 PM
Ditto RiversideLoki. Sonny and Yoko have cost me hundreds over the years. Vandalism, theft, don't get me started. Ben please steer clear of these two.
I knew the 'harmless' talk was too good to be true!
Normally I'd buy it...but this woman just makes me feel like something bad is about to happen. I've dealt with crackheads, psychotics, the disturbed, the poor (I lived in downtown Charleston for four years)...but I've never come across a pair that give me as bad vibes as the 'fat guy and his asian wife' do...
I wonder if she's the one who tagged my license plate when I was legally parked outside my apartment the other week...
Thanks dog walker for the info. I have seen the woman for a number of years I remember the first time I saw her I had just seen "the ring" and she was behind me when I came around the corner heading to the atm. She was alone without the man or dog and I must of jumped 10 feet. Since then I've not been so jumpy from the movie I see her, the man and dog. The tall chicken legs man has a halloween type fro but his black and white wrap dress is very smart looking. I love our neighborhood and all it's characters. I pass some of the same people everyday not homeless but characters anyway.
Quote from: Charles Hunter on November 06, 2011, 03:23:23 PM
Then there's the woman who panhandles at various intersections along Park. Stands out in the middle of the road and comes up to cars caught by a red light.
Not sure if you're talking about Shirley (Green, I think?)- older black lady? I haven't seen her in a while. She used to sit at the crossing light at the Cummer on Riverside at night and pound on the button when she saw a car coming so she could harass them at the red light. Twice she approached my car from a blindspot and hovered about 2 inches away from my window. I'm really shocked somebody hasn't just shot her by now. I know back in the day she was even more aggressive, she'd tell drivers and folks walking by that she had aids and would spit or bleed on them if she didn't get money. Huge rapsheet too.
That must be her ... and I haven't seen here in awhile. But she is scary.
I noticed that on a regular basis you would see her in new, clean clothes acting like she was on her meds. She seems somewhat lucid at times (guessing its meds) but most times she is just in her own world. The guy, I've heard, can be dangerous and it wouldn't shock me if that is accurate. I hope that, for her sake, he is protective of her and treats her well because I could not imagine her on the streets on her own. Its gotta be scary out there for anyone, let alone a 100 lb woman without all her mental faculties.
I think Carl is gone. No one has seen him for sometime. Besides being a severe alcoholic he had AIDS and a lot of other health problems. He was a really nasty character.
Tiny, Walter's beloved dog, died of cancer at age twelve a couple of days ago. He took very good care of her right to the end.
:(
There is also a black woman who has lurked for LONG years over on Edison and Riverside Blvd. I have seen her on park a few times to. She always stands outside of Incahoots and ask any and everybody for money that she sees. She know the club nights like clock work. Shes not to crazy. LOL
Learned that Walter Dickinson, the "fat man", died of congestive heart failure a few days ago after a week in the hospital.
Turns out that the woman he called his mother was unrelated to him, but gave him and Soo Young work, support, storage space and concern for many years. People like that restore your faith in humanity.
Shelton Hull is reportedly working on a story about Walter's life and art.
Quote from: Dog Walker on July 30, 2012, 04:37:32 PM
Learned that Walter Dickinson, the "fat man", died of congestive heart failure a few days ago after a week in the hospital.
Turns out that the woman he called his mother was unrelated to him, but gave him and Soo Young work, support, storage space and concern for many years. People like that restore your faith in humanity.
Shelton Hull is reportedly working on a story about Walter's life and art.
Really sad
If this is the same guy I'm thinking of, I used to see him occasionally pushing his dog around in a baby stroller; he was one of the local characters that adds color to living in a neighborhood like Riverside.
I think it was him that I saw a few years back painting part or all of the outside mural on the Margaret St. side of Sake House in Five Points right before they opened so he definitely possessed some artistic talent and skills.
RIP Walter.