Monday, October 3, 2016

Just Keeping Portland Weird or Scary Clowns?

It was just a normal Tuesday in Portland Oregon.  A #clown sighting didn't even cause the sighter to call 911 and he was trying to get into her car!

Several years ago I flew home to Oregon without a suitcase. I was sure that I had enough clothes in my closet to stay decently covered for a couple of days. It turned out I didn't.

That began the curious incident of the grandma clad like a clown running back and forth between her house and her daughters. No police were involved. Well, actually her daughter IS a policeman so I guess there is that.

Now it seems that clowns have appeared across our country and they are scaring the holy c*#%p out of people. (Maybe the clown people don't have anything else to wear. I understand that.) As a result, blog posts are turning away from election rants to talk about clowns.

We have had a couple of sightings here in Oregon. One was in Redmond (central Oregon) and that probably turned a few heads and did scare the people that were involved. But Redmond is not Portland in any way shape or form.

Darth Vader, unicycle riding
with fire-breathing badpipes.
When one turned up in Portland, it was just business as usual. It takes a village to keep Portland Weird and everyone is doing their part.

Even though the incident involved a silver clown trying to get into a woman's car when she was stopped at an intersection, she did not call 911. She called the non-emergency number. She didn't think it was an emergency.

I have to remind myself that weird is not weird around here. In fact a police spokesman didn't even raise an eyebrow. The local Oregonian Newspaper had this to say:
"We reached out to Portland Police to see if there's been an uptick in clown-related crimes. Sgt. Pete Simpson, spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau, said via email that he hadn't heard of that specific incident. 
"In Portland, where Darth Vader rides a unicycle and has a fire-breathing set of bagpipes," Simpson added, "clown sightings might just be an average Tuesday."
So what can I say...it is Saturday here and I suppose it about as average as it gets.

Oh, and I do bring a suitcase when I come home now.  I'm just saying!

b+

Rubber Shoes in Hell wrote a great post and brought the clown thing to my attention. Thank you Michelle.

9 comments:

  1. Gotta love Portlandia! I'm not sure what I would do if a clown tried to get in my car, but I hope I don't get the opportunity to find out.

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    Replies
    1. Me either but you can be sure I would be calling 911. How about you?

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  2. This post made me laugh! The clown thing is scary but, having been to Portland, I totally understand why they aren't freaking out over it.

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    Replies
    1. I have a friend from Montana that could not understand why I was not surprised when two young girls got on our Max line with us...they were dressed in very unusual costumes in August. Here is that post: http://www.retireinstyleblog.com/2014/08/travel-on-keeping-portland-weird.html

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  3. The clown sightings has made the national news. Must be October! :-)

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  4. Barbara, my sister Portlander, we live in Portlandia!I have not seen the scary clowns yet and clowns do bug me a bit so I am on the look out. But I was in the post office last week when an Elvis impersonator was singing to the clerk. People in line just kept on waiting. I applauded as did a few others but not everyone. You know, another day in Portland. The saying, 'Keep Portland Weird', I don't think there is an issue!

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  5. Years ago a clown scared me at a Shriners Parade. Then my second child let it be known that she was terrified of clowns. I don't know why. In the end, I think we need to SEE a person's face and that makes it all right. Most clowns just wanna have fun. Using the costume for other purposes? Not such a good idea. Love that Portland has PERSONALITY in spades.

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