Does that rule out justifiable street punishment?
Posted on 02/23/2024 11:22:42 AM PST by nickcarraway
A longtime San Francisco barber, Shorty Maniace, has never been the type to ruffle anyone's feathers.
But when faced with unsightly graffiti next to his beloved barbershop J.P. Kempt, rather than duck responsibility, Maniace hatched a plan.
"This was just me messing around and having fun and it turned out to be something great," Maniace said
His weapon of choice? Rubber duckies. Hundreds of them.
"I see a lot of people smile and I smile every time I look at it," he said.
It all started innocently enough, Maniace had some rubber ducks left over from a Halloween party and decided to put them to good use.
"Who doesn't love a rubber duck?" he asked.
Armed with a drill and a vision, he began attaching funny fowl to the boarded-up business next door.
The result is a colorful work of art. So colorful, in fact, it has become a hotspot for influencers looking for some duck-themed dazzle.
"I've never seen a duck wall before and I just had to take a selfie," said San Francisco resident Sherlin Wong
All in all, he's got about 700 rubber duckies of different shapes and colors. There's a pirate, a unicorn, a clown and some that aren't ducks at all.
"I've had people ask me, 'Does it come from China?' I tell them, 'I don't know where they migrated from but they're safe here now,'" Maniace said.
When someone occasionally spray-paints them, Maniace quickly finds a replacement.
"What I've noticed more than anything is stealing," he said. "I would love to be the fly on the wall to see that duck cartel."
His unconventional approach has even received a stamp of approval from the city.
"I absolutely loved this. It really quacked me up," said Rachel Gordon, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
According to Gordon, the city spends far more than $10 million a year fighting graffiti. She said any effort to stop it is welcome, as long as it's legal.
"As long as the rubber ducks are not blocking the path of travel, which they're not, it's fine what they did. What I especially appreciate is that he asked the property owner, 'Is this OK to do?'" she added.
Turns out, those rubber ducks aren't just good for the neighborhood -- they're also good for business.
"This was a corner nobody looked at and now more and more people are going, 'I had no idea there was a barbershop here,'" Maniace said.
Very small rocks
Rock salt shotgun rounds will work.
Does that rule out justifiable street punishment?
Probably not a good idea in SF.
A block from me, an old ice-skating rink was torn down last summer in preparation for the construction of two new apartment buildings. For some reason, the project seems to be on hold, but as I was driving by the other day, I noticed that the walls of the adjacent businesses - the walls that face the new project - are now covered with that bulbous graffiti that seems to be everywhere in this part of the world. Apparently, there is now a generation of young people who think that they have a perfect right to deface other people’s property.
My old grammar teacher would have to get a new red marker after grading your post!
If we were smart we’d all get together, invent a coating that aresol paint wouldn’t stick to and become zillionaires.
Graffiti goes back before the current generation.
I wonder if he knows Kathie Walters, Justin Paul Abraham, et al, that God surprises and delights with rubber duckies. It’s been a happening thing for years now. God is great at providing clever solutions to problems. Rom.8:28
🤣
I am so sick of grafitti but my grandfather told me there is grafitti on the base of the pyamids, from the days they were built and it’s true.
Paint a rainbow flag on it and no one will dare deface it unless they want the FBI to clear its schedule and go after them.
“It all started innocently enough, Maniace had some rubber ducks left over from a Halloween party . . . “
What kind of Halloween party? I don’t think I want to know.
“It all started innocently enough, Maniace had some rubber ducks left over from a Halloween party . . . “
What kind of Halloween party? I don’t think I want to know.
You can buy it today at Sherwin-Williams.
I understood it.
We know how to pronounce ancient Latin because of Roman graffiti.
It’s ugly with graffiti and it’s ugly with rubber ducks.
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