Keep Portland Weird, Man!

Keep Portland Weird is a saying that has been slung all over for years, on bumper stickers and T-shirts and billboards, etc. And now that I am a Portlander, I am discovering why it is so important to the locals. They are like animals of the forest, bizarre and primitive, protecting their culture.
The other day, I was in my apartment, and I heard some Tourettes-like shouting and carrying on. I had only to look over my balcony to observe the native Portlander pacing and hopping and dancing around in his native dirty ragged clothing in front of the H&R Block office across the street. He had quite an act. I was tempted to throw money at him as one might toss peanuts to the monkeys. I felt quite privileged that I was getting this show for free.
Yesterday, while walking down Tenth Avenue, we passed a rather typical middle-class-looking fellow who was standing at a phone booth. We observed that as people would approach (everyone walks here), he would grab the phone off the hook and start muttering to himself while pretending to dig in his pockets for change. Then, as we got within earshot, he said "Hey, can you spare fifty cents?" The best part was that he had what appeared to be an iPhone in his other hand. I figured his iPhone must be out of service.
Finally, there is the bizarre and colorful Portland dressy casual moviegoer. As we sat at the bar at the Living Room Theatre enjoying our local beverages (beer), in he walked in all his glory. A young man wearing a collared button-down striped blue and white dress shirt which was half-tucked in to his cherry-red running shorts which were pulled up high revealing his snowy white legs, and the outfit was completed with black dress shoes and no socks. What a sight! It made us both take pause from our frosty beverages and give thanks for the visual delights we discover each and every day in this wild landscape that we call Portland.