Tom Slick

Working off a pretty sweet hangover yesterday, I decided to put in some miles on my bike. Not really having a destination in mind, I ended up taking a round about trip heading first to the Richmond for one of the most delicious turkey sandwiches on the planet over at Arguello Super Market. We're talking full roasted turkey carved right there to put on the sandwich. Anyway, after slamming that and a Gatorade, I shot downtown and ended up winding through the Embarcadero and up through North Beach. As soon as I hit Washington square I was presented with the rather normal sight of a few teenage kids smoking some of that "cheech-and-chong". The thing that caught my attention however, was the individual they happened to be smoking with:

Most people remember him as "Epic Beard Guy" or "Vietnam Tom". I personally enjoy "Tom Slick," as this is also how he likes to refer to himself. As I sat on the bench next to these guys and snuck in a few pics, I was actually pretty intrigued by the stories he was telling. One of the best quotes was: "You don't give whiskey to a homeless man. Shit. You want him to go crazy and fight somebody?" Even so, it became apparent that Tom knew one of the kids and was recounting stories of him growing up, to which the kid actually corroborated. Pretty neat.

Knowing that Tom can get a little crazy, I made sure to take in my celebrity shock from a good viewing distance. I mean, the guy was made famous in a video beating the piss out of a guy who taunted him on an AC Transit bus. A hero to many, but a bit 'off' nonetheless. I don't know about you, but a 67 year old man who wears a shirt like this is not the kinda guy you wanna mess with.

Having taken it all in and watching Tom disappear into the distance, walking with the gait and size of a linebacker behind St. Peter and Paul Church, I rode the rest of the way home with a little bit of a smirk on my face, gently pedaling and enjoying the undulations of Russian Hill and the final ascent up Corbett to Clayton, all the while wondering who else could be in and around The City at any given moment - just waiting to be found.