Shaving For Biden

Written in legal vernacular, the petition was a commitment from those who signed to remain unshaven intil Trump left office.

Real Estate Man # 76

In the course of a people business like property management Real Estate Man runs into all types.

Every once in a while he meets an individual who seems to have a certain energy. When that person is in a room, their mere presence seems to make the room shrink just a bit. Almost like they’re too big for any space no matter how large the area.

This story is about a charismatic tenant who has potential to make a difference someday. He can certainly make a room shrink.

Filled with energy and conviction, Ogden seemed to pronounce every sentence with perfect enunciation. Each word treated as a stand alone but, instead, all his words threaded together in compelling thought sequences . Almost music.

Ogden was a prelaw student at the University of Pennsylvania and hoped to continue in the graduate school of law there.

Possibly it was Ogden’s strong interest in law but seldom do people even read the lease before they sign it much less take it home and study it like Ogden did. His incisive questions the next day indicated his desire to have a clear understanding of exactly what he was signing. Although his fastidiousness was somewhat burdensome, it was refreshing. If nothing else it forced Real Estate Man to reread the lease, something he hadn’t done for years.

Ogden moved into a 1 bedroom on Lombard the end of spring 2017, a few months before the start of the 1st semester of his senior year at Penn.

Around July of 2017, he showed up unannounced in Real Estate Man’s office.

Real Estate Man’s story:

As before, the office shrank a little by virtue of Ogden’s presence. He was there with an interesting but unattractive proposal.

Ogden was disturbed by the direction of the first 100 days of the Trump administration. To demonstrate his displeasure, he created a petition. He was circulating it with the hope it would be signed by men who would show their opposition to the president in a similar manner. Written in legal vernacular, the petition was a commitment from those who signed to remain unshaven until Trump left office.

I’m no fan of Trump but I felt it more productive to demonstrate my opposition in other ways.

I politely — passed.

Ogden finished his year lease without incident and presumably moved out and on.

The world continued to turn, albeit in an erratic way.

We’ve all been effected by what’s listed in McSweeny’s as the 842 atrocities (so far) the Trump administration has committed in the course of its largely unsuccessful attempts of trying to run the country. We suffer together, though each in our own way.

The other day while walking in Center City I saw a young man on the opposite side of the street that resembled how I remembered Ogden — sort of. After all, it had been nearly 3 1/2 years since I’d last seen him.

The most arresting aspect of his visage was the wild, atavistic, unkempt, runaway growth of hair on his face. It gave him a primitive maniacal appearance.

I’ll bet the courtroom would undoubtedly shrink with energy and conviction when this odd-looking furry Ogden was arguing a case!

I wonder if they let him finish law school?