IF YOU’VE DRIVEN DOWN MONTROSE BLVD. at any time during the past several years, you’ve seen him. In fact, there’s a good chance you’ve smiled in recognition, maybe even waved at him. He has been called an institution, also the city’s quintessential example of Dionysian rapture, also Dancing Rollerblade Guy. Dancing Rollerblade Guy is not his real given name, of course, nor is Juan Carlos the Rollerblader, but the latter is what he wants us to call him, and we are not about to argue this point with the city’s quintessential example of Dionysian rapture. Most days, he can be found at the corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose, or Dallas and Montrose, or Washington Ave. and Montrose. Things can get tricky at that last location, where Juan Carlos the Rollerblader quite literally stops traffic. His admirers, he says, “get too crazy when they start stopping to take pictures. The traffic backs up, and I don’t want to make people unhappy.” Truth to tell, almost never does he make anyone unhappy. Quite the opposite. Even as they are late for carpool at Carnegie Vanguard, or on their way to meet friends at Niko Niko’s, drivers find themselves slowing down in spite of themselves, marveling at the sight of unfettered, un-self-conscious joy before them.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 14:01:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015