I know a bunch of true characters. Eccentricity will never disappear. In fact, I think society is more accepting of eccentrics than it used to be.

Another character I know is my uncle Ed Harvey. He owns an auto parts store in Knoxville and is a local legend. He has been on [censored] and was one of the people called on the original "whoopass" tapes recorded by John Bean (not the poser/imposter thief Roy D Mercer)!

Anyway, when I was in sixth grade we were given an assignment by our English teacher to choose a poem, memorize it, and recite it before the class. My cousin and I both procrastinated and did not know a poem. As luck would have it, Uncle Ed took us to school that fateful morning and heard us lamenting over our dilemma. He taught us a little limerick that was inapproptriate for an educational setting. We were both stupid enough to recite it to our respective classes!

There once was a man from Boston
who bought himself an Austin.
There was room for his [censored]
and a gallon of gas
but his balls hung out so he lost 'em!

After the uproar, my teacher promptly escorted me to the principals office where my cousin was sitting and awaiting punishment for the same offense. We pleaded our case to no avail and were both paddled and instructed to call our parents. We called Uncle Ed! He came to school and took us to the store where we spent the remainder of the day. Our mom's chewed him out later but he just smiled the whole time!