Larger than life
I love old men with long grey hair, sporting a couple of earrings.
Before you ‘unfollow’ me and snap your laptop shut, hear me out.
What I really love is any form of eccentricity, anything slightly off beam, a tad off centre.
When you drive along any main road, you come across hundreds of jelly moulds driving towards you, so unmemorable that you’re hardly likely to spend time discussing any of them at the water cooler. But come across a gleaming red Morgan and, guess what, it has your attention.
If you’re a footie fan recalling the glorious days, do you reminisce about Ian Storey Moore or Georgie Best. Both as skillful, both from the same era, both from Manchester United, but one of them famous for doing everything you shouldn’t do, and doing it ever so often. Nice one Georgie!
I once saw a little fat man walking around Verona dressed as a bee, for no other reason that he enjoyed walking around Verona dressed as a bee. He made me smile – he was interesting. I couldn’t describe anyone else that had been walking around Verona that afternoon.
Variety is the spice lf life. Some people stick like glue to the archetype, some vary dramatically. Who do you tend to remember? And don’t answer, “The nutters!” They’re not usually nutters, although I do accept the fact that nutters are specially equipped to excel at such activities.
Hooray for the head turners, I say. But they’ve got to be real. Tim Healy plays a transvestite on the sit com ‘Benidorm’, but we all know he’s not really like that – because his estranged wife say so, umm. I met the real thing on a week’s holiday in Rhodes last week, and he was far more interesting. There with his wife, who I should think helped choose his wardrobe, he strutted his stuff around the hotel for seven days. Lovely gear but I’m guessing he didn’t turn on many guys because he was so obviously not a woman. He knew that, we knew that, but he held centre stage all week. He was happy and I suspect most of his captive audience was happy, because he showed them something different. He was on the same return flight as me, now a very normal, grey haired sixty odd year old man, who would easily get lost in a crowd. In a way the guy proves my point perfectly.
Have you also noticed that females are starting to appear with more and more colourful tattoos. Saw one the other day, of ample proportions, who was absolutely covered in them. As a small kid at the fair I used to pay money to go and see the ‘Tattooed Lady.” I’m now getting it free and it’s just as interesting.
The problem is, we can’t all become eccentrics. If we did, then that would be the norm and it would be the ordinary little grey people that stood out.
There’s probably room for a few more though, so I’m thinking of growing my already grey hair and buying a couple of earrings. Then again, it’s probably more fun watching.
Keep smiling.
