This seems to be a name that I am getting familiar with while on the streets meeting new & interesting people. This time, Adam was a musician. Rather than being a life-defending, witch-watcher, who's name I was not certain was actually Adam, this Adam was a Geography-teaching, ciggy-smoking, unemployed, uneducated tiger.
To quote him: "City Of Perth! Thank you for supporting an uneducated and unemployed Tiger!"... And your'e thinking, "The guardian of life might be telling the truth as opposed to this guy..."
I know, but I could not help but instantly love this dude. From the moment that I heard his Reggae-Punk echoing through the streets, and his haneously raw voice being broadcasted to the ears of passers by, my spirit lifted from the frustration of trying to get "that photo" and fell aside as I was captivated with how this complete stranger could just be a person being a person with no regard to what anyone thought of him. He was Adam, and he was in a Tiger outfit, and he was cool.
At first sight of him, I stood back to get the photos that I wanted from afar, as his presence on the street drew my attention away from sign that summed it all up perfectly:
"Hooray For Everything"
This guy was just that. He was a statement of 'Hooray-ing For Everything'. Everything about him said just that. I mean, He was in a tiger outfit, he couldn't sing, he was sweating from being in the sun, and he was passionate about being himself.
Anyway. Let me begin today's visual story ...
I spot this guy, and I would say I am about 20-30 meters away when I decide to stop and get snap happy. I stopped behind a bollard. You know one of those metal things popping out of the ground? Usually at about waist-height, and as round as your fist? Yeah. This was my hiding post. I know... I am thinking the same thing as you. I have this knack for thinking that because I have a camera, and the person looks a little bigger through my viewfinder, that they cant see me.
... Retard ...
I look down behind me. Look up to this singing human tiger. Think: "Hmmmmm. Billy.... You are a stealth boss now arent you? Shucks."
Luckily, he didnt care. These two dudes walked past, grabbed a seat on the bench he was on, and started chatting with him. Straight away, he swapped music for people, and began talking. These guys bailed, and I seized the moment. I walked up to him, extended my hand and said "Dude, I haven't got any cash, but you are the man".
He looked at me...
...and kept singing.
I mean... I am like a meter away from him. Its not like one of those situations where I think that because I am hiding behind a concrete stick, that he cant see me. I am right in front of him.
Whilst still singing, he leans forward, as if to say "Huh?". I think to myself, "I dont want to repeat myself word-for-word..."
"I dont have any cash, but you are the man"... Smooth..
He stops, shakes my hand, and keeps on singing his renditions of Sublime. I keep taking photos.
Stopping for a break, he asks if I have got enough photos, and if not, that I will need to take a spell, so that he can have a smoke. So, I head over to him, and get chatting. He continues to inform me that he is a Geography, History, English, and Sos teacher, and the he does this in his spare time for kicks.
He tells me about his Mrs. and how the turtle tattooed on his left wrist is for her and a sign that they will never be apart, and tells me about how good we have really got it, and that we really don't go without anything. He tells me how they lived in a tent for 3 years while traveling around Europe and NSW, and how while Hitch-Hiking, they would carry a sign saying "Home", and when asked where "Home" was, their response was, "Where are you going?".
He tells me about how people are good at heart, and about the time when he met a guy called Michael Gabrielle while breaking into his house, and that Michael had been left with nothing after a 10 year law suit, and even with nothing to his name and being broken into, Michael still extended an invitation to Adam to bring his sleeping bag around, and that he could stay at his house if he wanted to.
He tells me how life is simple. He tells me about how we have got everything we need. He tells me about how we are well off. He tells me how we will always be able to have 3 squares a day. He tells me how there is something valuable in everyone. He tells me about how he would spend time with homeless people just to learn from them, and by the end of our conversation, I ended up telling myself that Adam was someone that I could learn so much from, and that Dale Carnegie's quote, "every man is my superior, that I learn of him", was re-enforced through my meeting of Adam.
This man is an inspiration, and although he lives in a tent with a sign that says "Home", with a lady who represents a turtle on his wrist, sings deformed reggae in a tiger suit, and hangs out with homeless people to become a better person, Adam (wether or not that is his name), has inspired me to be a better me, and to learn from whoever I can as often as I can.
So... To Adam, and all that he is.
Hooray For Everything.
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