Yesterday was day 2 of not having a car.  I biked to my dentist appointment about a mile away on Peachtree Street.  Not bad at all!  In the past the only places I’ve biked in the city was to Piedmont Park or to the Virginia Highlands.  This is the first time I’ve biked on a busier road.  I do wish we had bike lanes though.

Later that morning, I walked just a few blocks south of my neighborhood to get my car at Midtown Tire (if you’re looking for a repair shop they’re good people) located on Ponce de Leon.  I know Ponce is WAAAAAY shady, but I figured I’d be okay since I’m just crossing to the other side of the street to get to the shop.  Nonetheless, I prepared for this.  I put on my darkest pair of sunglasses so I wouldn’t have to make eye contact with the crazies.  I put on long pants so I wouldn’t be mistaken for a hooker and a plain black shirt to not call attention to myself.  I put on athletic shoes just in case I had to make a run for it.  I even had my fanny pack on, although a stylish one, so that my wallet wouldn’t get snatched.

So I’m walking down Charles Allen in my nice little neighborhood and the absolute SPLIT SECOND I get on to the intersection of Charles Allen and Ponce I see this crackhead coming toward me.  He mumbles something and I tell him I don’t have any cash on me.  He mumbles something again and I notice he already has cash in his hand.  Then he says it again, even louder… “Suck my —- for 5 dollars???”.  I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO INSULTED IN MY WHOLE LIFE!!!!  Probably against my better judgement I started cursing him out on the street, which in turn probably made ME look like I belonged on Ponce.  “Are you f#(*$%&#(*&$% crazy???  I’m not a prostitute you nasty bum!!! #)($*#)$*)#*$!!!!”

I made it across the street in one piece and HAPPILY drove my car back home.  I’m never doing that ever again.  I will walk everywhere in Midtown, but I’m not touching Ponce de Leon Ave!!!  It’s crazy how just one block up you’re in a really nice neighborhood, but you get to Ponce and it’s like day and night.

Sorry… no pictures for this post… I was too busy watching out for my own safety!!!!!

(I took this from Flickr since I don’t have my own personal photo of him - This picture was taken by Sher Pruitt and originally posted in an artilce by Jim Farmer on the Southern Voice website www.southernvoice.com/2006/4-28/arts/feature/baton.cfm)

I first saw Baton Bob one day when I was driving down Ponce de Leon with Mike and he said “Did you just see that man in a tutu?!  He had bells on his boots, was blowing a whistle, and twirling a baton!!”  I looked in the rear view mirror just in time to catch a glimpse of him marching down the street.  I’ve seen some pretty crazy things on Ponce.  Crack addicts, hookers, bums and more!  Often times I’ll see people talking loudly to themselves.  Mike always tells me maybe they have a bluetooth earpiece on and I just don’t know it… but yeah right!

So back to Baton Bob.  A few months later I saw a feature about him on national TV… and thought OMG!!!  That’s the guy we saw!  After hearing his story, I found out he’s not a typical Ponce crackhead after all.  He was actually a quite sane, very cool guy and apparently was somewhat of an icon in Atlanta.  Basically he started twirling a baton to make people smile after he was going through a depression after 9/11.

Since then, I’ve seen him 3 other times.  The second time, I saw him marching up Charles Allen, again in ballerina outfit.  A third time, I saw him in a bumble bee costume while I was eating outside at Park Tavern at Piedmont Park.  The fourth time, walking down 10th Street on Cinco de Mayo wearing a sombrero and red feather boa.  I’ve been dying to get a picture with him, but have never been at the right place at the right time WITH a camera on me.

Anyway, I haven’t seen him in a while and hope to run into him again soon!  I love you Baton Bob!