
I’ve seen him before – twice to be exact – and with each spotting, the veneer of being a SEPTA-designated “bidder of farewells” to those trains leaving the Ardmore station has obviously grown less. Today was the clincher, as what had been a purely generic exercise in people watching was carried out with the added benefit of audio.
I moved closer to his perch, midway down the platform, where I eagerly sat. The clothes, always different, but the wide-brimmed hat (was it straw?) was the same. Clutching a medium-sized soft drink from McDonalds in his right, he rose to a higher vantage point, and as the westbound train began pulling out, he lifted his left, and rang the most delicate of bells, continually, until the train was well around the curve towards Haverford.
And then he spoke.
“The Code of Hammurabi / by the light of the moon and sun…”
It’s here where I stopped straining to hear the specifics of what he had to say to reflect that his tone was eerily similar to that of Riley Martin as played by Ossie Davis, his eyeline never straying from the length of track where another train just might approach.
“The Code of Hammurabi / by the light of the moon and sun…”
I wonder – could he be reciting the actual Code of Hammurabi? I knew it was a set of ancient laws, but was it composed in perfect rhythm, as a glorious rhyme…
“Six-gun shooter / Sammy Davis Jr…”
Obviously not.
Image cribbed from DMuth