{"id":7170,"date":"2010-06-30T07:14:39","date_gmt":"2010-06-30T12:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/?p=7170"},"modified":"2010-06-30T07:17:18","modified_gmt":"2010-06-30T12:17:18","slug":"flower-man-panhandler-goes-to-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/30\/flower-man-panhandler-goes-to-jail\/","title":{"rendered":"“Flower man” panhandler goes to jail"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"\"$ <\/a>The Commercial Appeal has reported<\/a> that Derrick Linwood, 51, was arrested Monday for allegedly peddling flowers near Beale Street.\u00a0 He was standing in a valet lane at Second and Beale (I guess that would be Itta Bena’s valet lane) and according to the police report, he was forcing people to take flowers.\u00a0 He was charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing a highway or passageway, and public intoxication.<\/p>\n

“Flower man” is a common scam among the panhandlers in the spring and summer.\u00a0 Some will hit dumpsters as florists empty their stock for the day.\u00a0 Others will hit church dumpsters to dive for funeral arrangement flowers.\u00a0 Most pick flowers out of public beds in the Downtown area.\u00a0 They will then walk the streets, targeting couples especially, aggressively pressuring males to buy a “flower for the lady.”\u00a0 Often this will lead to a “donation,” more out of fear for safety than because the flowers are actually worth any money.<\/p>\n

Mr. Linwood, according to the article, has been arrested 88 times since 1982.\u00a0 Maybe “three strikes” is a bit too much for these minor quality-of-life violations, but it seems like there at least ought to be a “ten strikes” rule.<\/p>\n

Off to work… will be out somewhere tonight.\u00a0 Remember, today is NOT the last day of Tube Top Month; it has been extended to July 5.\u00a0 So let’s see those tube tops this holiday weekend!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"