TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Camilla
Camilla
Who was the Old man?

I came across this story recently, and I think it carries a very important message, and I would like to share it with you all :)
---------

http://www.quirkynomads.com/mp3/121605.mp3

One morning in December 2005, podcaster (online audio reporter) Sage Tyrtle was surprised to see an old man pushing by Toronto rush hour subway commuters who were labouring up a steep flight of stairs. Moving very quickly, the old man poked fun at everyone, saying: “Move on now, move out of my way. I’m an old man – I’m getting up the stairs faster than you!”
Once seated on the subway, the old man cheerfully chatted about how uptight people from Toronto were, and that “you gotta go to Vancouver where everybody says ‘Hi’. In Vancouver, everyone’s relaxed. In fact I’m going right now to get me a couple of beers to help me wake up”.
The commuters exploded in laughter, said Ms Tyrtle, then everyone listened carefully to what he had to say. He explained that a little alcohol (“medicine”) is good for you, but too much makes you sick. He explained that Elvis Presley died young because his doctor gave him medicine and he overdid it. “Forty years old. I’m 70, you see? Shoulda lived to be 110, Elvis Presley, with all that money. Whap bop alloobop, whop bam boom,” he sang.
Everyone laughed again. The train lurched and Ms Tyrtle started to fall, but very quickly the man behind her caught her – something she’d never experienced in Toronto.
The old man went on to chide the audience about getting his teaching for free, because he was usually very expensive. “You look on TV, you’ll see me. You will know who I am. This is not my real face.” At the College Street stop he said: “I don’t go to college any more – I graduated! I’m a professor now. But I don’t teach, I prophesize. Oh, what is that? I never use that word myself. It’s new to me. That’s a big word, prophesize.”
Getting off the subway, the old man started singing: “Kansas City here I come. They got some pretty ladies, got to get me one,” adding, “I want more than one – I’m not satisfied with one lady. I gotta have more than one. I got an old lady, and a young lady. How do you like that? That’s not bad.” He started to leave the train. “Ok. Bye bye. I’ll miss you!” he chimed. Many said goodbye back. He sang the tune ‘Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think’, and called: “Bye bye, folks! Put an egg in your shoe and beat it!”
Ms Tyrtle ended her podcast by saying that after the doors had closed one woman said: “Well, that put a smile on everyone’s face!” Thinking about the experience herself, she commented: “It felt like that smile had somehow stretched to include the entire city, so that the normally taciturn commuters were suddenly talking to each other, laughing and grinning, for no reason at all.”

The podcast can be heard at www.quirkynomads.com/mp3/121605.mp3. In the last few seconds, the original recording is played of the ‘old man’s voice as he leaves the subway.

December 3, 2006 | 7:02 PM Comments  2 comments

Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.


Comments

IssI Issy
December 5, 2006 | 12:44 PM

I liked your story, it made me think of all those people who touch upon our lives so fleetingly and can enrich us so much. It made me wonder what it is about people like that that they can affect a group of strangers on a subway and somehow make the whole carriage feel more comfortable together.

Was it simply that a crazy old man found the right train with enough people happy to indulge him that the sentiment spread, and, that at an other time the first person he tried to talk to would have given him the cold shoulder thus beginning an entirely different chain of events.

Or was it that people are just waiting for someone to come out of the blue and bring a little laughter with them not like a comedian performing for a crowd or someone telling a joke at a party but someone who does it simply because they know no other way someone who makes you happy...comfortable....content....smile just being near them and makes you in turn want to pass on this unique feeling.
Maybe I'm missing it by a mile. . . . .
What were your thoughts on it?
zainul Zainul Abedin
February 1, 2007 | 4:34 AM
Wonderful!
I liked the story.People want some sauce in their fast lives.The old man generously presented the commuters and made them happy.
Let's thank the old man and wait to find him across the world again.
Camilla Noble-Warren's Profile

Camilla Noble-Warren's Friends


Monthly Archive
April 2002
January 2003
April 2004
May 2004
December 2006
November 2007
March 2008

Change Language


Filter By Type
Topics

Friends
abby evans
Ainsley
Alex
Alexandre Canijo
Allan Siao Ming Witherick
arthur eric
Atanu
Augusto C
César Reyes
Daniel Uribe
Daniele Rosa
David Hammond
Dilip Kr. Saha
Dumisani Nyoni
Eric Chan
Fabrizio Scrollini
Fabrizio Scrollini
Gabriel Mauricio Sarmiento Argüello
Gabriela Alvarez
Jace
James Hurrell
James Kay
James Trott
Jarra McGrath
Jennifer Corriero
Karis
katherine watson
Koray Asan
Krishna Mohan
Liliana
Luke Cholerton-Bozier
Maulik Baxi
Michael
Mike
NatF
Ness
Nick Moraitis
Nihshanka Debroy
njeru
Owusu Nyantakyi Quayson
Reza Ganjavi
Rolando
Sean Sabbage
Simon Moss
Steven Sutton
Syed Rifat [সৈয়দরিফাত] -- SYEDRIFAT.COM -- অতিবাস্তববাদী[otibastobbadi]
Tina T.H. Lee
Tom Burke
Wynne
X
Yukiko
Øyvind Kildal Stangnes
عطاءالرحمن قریشی


13358 views
Important Disclaimer