"I'm not a ****ing weirdo"

It had been a long day! I was in a rush to pick my children up from after school club, but someone's left a trike out in the rain, they've left it outside the Library of Birmingham , it looks hideous and burnt and...an ideal subject for a blip.

I get off my bike, open my bag and start to take pictures, suddenly a loud voice is next to me.

"Talk to my daughter" says an intense looking middle aged man, waving a mobile phone at me.

"Huh?"

"Talk to my daughter, you're interested in the tricycle, talk to her"

He's thrusting the phone in my face now, I can see the home made tattooed cross on is hand (oh joy!), "talk to her!"

"Look sorry, I need to go, busy day, gotta go.."

"I know you've had a busy day, talk to my daughter!"

"Sorry no..." I'm starting to gather my things, I'm panicking, my bags aren't closed, ....."why are you taking pictures?"

Struggling for a reply..."I think it's artistically interesting"

"Tell my daughter that, it's her tricycle..."
I don't want to talk to her about the bi..."

"TRICYCLE!"

He's now holding my hand... I shake loose...

"She didn't want me to do this...I'm not a fucking weirdo" (this is not the tme to say 'I beg to differ...')

"Sorry, bye...."

"It's been in the canal since the 1970s..."

As a PS to the story, I was showing the picture to a couple of work colleagues a few days later....they'd also seen the tricycle in busy public squares in Birmingham city centre. They'd treated it with great caution, not being the sort of fools that would treat it as a photo-opportunity. I'm now keen to know of any further sightings.

song