Do you know the Nuclear Man?

Do you know the Nuclear Man?

The Nuclear Man?

The Nuclear Man!

The one who lives in bags?

If you are from the Hagerstown area, than you know who I am referring to. I know him as Bag Man, Jason calls him Nuclear Man. What is your name for him?

Today while I was sitting at a stop light waiting for the green left turn signal, I came across Bag Man, and almost hit him too. Scared the crap out of me to be honest with you. It was bad enough that I almost hit someone, but then to be confronted with someone as odd as him definitely did not help the situation.

This is not the first encounter I had with him. Back at the ripe age of 16 I worked at County Market as a cashier. Bag Man loved to shop at County Market. It was so neat to watch his behaviorism's. He would wait until there was a register with no line. As he wheeled his cart up to the register, you could just feel how scared he was that someone was going to come up behind him. He had a wooden basket that he would keep his groceries in. He did not put his groceries on the belt, but would hand them to you individually. He would hand you the item, you would scan it, than hand it back to him to put in his basket. I also remember that when I would give him his total, he would give me crinkled up dollar bills that were hot (and stinky). Bag Man liked me, and that made me happy. After I rang him up the first time, and treated him with respect, he came back to me every time. I can also remember a situation when I was ringing him up, there was a lady with her children saying some very nasty things as they were standing right behind him. Me being the person I am, I spoke up and told them that if they didn't have anything nice to say or if they couldn't stand there quietly that they could move to another line. The look on their face was priceless, and his too =)

Everyone has issues. We also all have feelings and are not deaf. No one is perfect. God made us an original and with everyone of us a purpose. I'm not sure what His purpose is with Bag Man, but as odd as he is, look how he has made a dent in your life somehow.

After leaving County Market I saw Bag Man walking the streets one day. He must have gotten a box of bags that County Market threw out because they were sliced when trying to open the box. He had those bags taped on him like you would not believe. At least he was living "green" before "green" was hip!!

He may not have remembered me, but I sure did remember him today. Have you had any encounters with Bag Man?