Characters in Tuebingen

As I have spent more and more time in Tuebingen, I have become familiar with the local homeless people/bums/beggars/lunatics. They provide Tuebingen with a bit of color and their antics are always entertaining.

Der braune Mann

The brown man can almost always be found in the park on a sunny day. He is always wearing speedos, short shorts, or his tighty whities and doing strange combinations of exercises that look like something between yoga and karate. He has been a constant figure in the park since April leading to the name the brown man. His tan is incredible. It is always a big event when someone sees the brown man fully clothed and outside of the park.

Tumor Man

Tumor man has one of the most grotesque growths on his left shin that I have ever seen. It is a easily the size of my outstretched hand and at the bottom there is a chronic wound that is constantly leaking some sort of fluid. He sits on a bench in the park asking for money from passers by. Frequently little old ladies stop and hound him about getting some sort of medical attention.

Dog Lady

There is a lady who constantly wanders around the town center with her fat weiner dog running ahead of her. She uses crutches to walk and her feet are very swollen. She has stringy, greasy, shoulder length brown hair. When anyone tries to catch her dog for her she yells at them, getting mad that people can't leave her well enough alone. One time I was sitting on a bench eating a doener and her dog came over to me and was barking, baring its teeth, and snapping at my feet while I was eating. She told me I should share my doener with the dog. I walked away.

Punks

There is a group of goth/punks that hang around the bookstore in the city center. They are some of the more aggressive beggars. As opposed to just having their cup sitting out they actually approach people and ask them for money. They also have several dogs that they take for walks in the park. This inevitable causes some sort of ruckus in the normally peaceful park. The dogs tend to fight with one another and antagonize any other dogs that they come into contact with.

Hungarian Street Performer

There is a man with a gray, curly mullet at an extremely bulbous nose that typically sits outside of one of the shopping centers. He plays the guitar and has a sign explaining that he is a hungarian street performer and this is how he makes his living. As of late he has joined forces with a violinist and has moved from his regular spot to under the underpass. They seem to be doing pretty well, the guitar case was rather full last time I ventured past. I think it is that people are trying to pay them to stop though seeing as how they really are not very good.

Number Man

This guy memorizes numbers. He memorizes licence plates, bus schedules, times anything with numbers and letters. Then he proceeds to recite the numbers he has memorized to anyone who will even look at him. He does this all while riding the bus, offering people seats and being in general pleased with himself. He likes to give other people high-fives when he recites something and is in general a very happy person.

Tuebingen seems to have a rather high concentration of beggars, bums and craz people for being such a small town. But it is part of what gives it its character.