I live in
Santa Cruz, Caliornia. It's a town full of all kinds of
weird places and people. There's never really a lack of places to hang out, but one of places I visit most often is
downtown Santa Cruz, and the "Umbrella Man" is always there.
At first he just walked, inch by inch in a
hawaiian t-shirt with an
umbrella in his hand. Every day, early in the morning and late at night... pacing down
Pacific Avenue, back and forth. He always held a creepy smile on his face, and everyone thought he was the weirdest guy for doing nothing but inching down the street with an umbrella in his hand.
This went on for a couple of months... About six months after I had first noticed him, he
dramatically changed his wardrobe. He began to sport
pink spandex tights, a
flower dress, a new pink umbrella with tinfoil underneath. His
makeup was a whole different story -
sparkles and
glitter all over his face,
pink lipstick,
pink eyeshadow.
I don't think anyone quite knew what to make of him. All kinds of
rumors started up. All he did is walk back and forth, and practically everyone in this town knows who he is. You just say, "umbrella man," and someone will say, "yeah I heard he went crazy in
vietnam, so he walks back and forth in
girl clothes," or "I heard he's a psychology teacher at UCSC and he's um... proving something," or " I heard he's an
escaped mental patient!"
I started to get annoyed with this, so I decided to ask him. I went downtown, and he was easily found. I said, "Hey man, What's your name?"
"Robert," he replied.
"Why do you walk back and forth this street all day?"
"
I felt like going for a walk."
If you don't believe in the umbrella man, take a trip down to Santa Cruz, California and go on Pacific Avenue. There you'll find the umbrella man pacing, inch by inch, back and forth.