Not bothering nobody

 Well see, that is the whole point of the walking man, he didn't bother nobody.  As you walk the streets of downtown there is a gauntlet of panhandlers.  There are knots of fine young men and women espousing some cause such as Peta or Doctors Without Borders who hail you cheerily and ask something innocuous, and if you are foolish enough to answer that will lead to another question and eventually it will end up with the pitch and money leaving your pocket, you know, because they are so young and earnest and kind of charming because they have honed their lines, and generally it is a pretty good cause.  There are street preachers who are easy enough to walk brusquely by, but then maybe they plant doubts about the destination of your immortal soul, and all you wanted to do was get some kitty yummies from Target and take them home to kitty, who will look at you like what took you so long.

But the walking man didn't bother nobody, you didn't have to even give him one of those short little city nods, you just had to glance at him to make sure you didn't walk into him and he would do the same. Thankyouverymuch and you never had to worry if that panhandler needed or deserved the money, or whether the money was going to the good cause or into the pocket of this slick tongued young gentleman or lady, or whether you would be playing the harp or shoveling coal for eternity.  You were one step closer to Target or home to kitty with no muss and no fuss and thank god for that.

They have caught the guy that did it, he said that he was angry and that he thought it was just a pile of blankets he was setting on fire but nobody is believing the last part.  The walking man is not dead yet, but there are no signs that he is improving,

That kid in Buffalo likely was hyped up by Tucker and the shadowy causes and characters he espouses, that replacement theory (which sounds a lot like Beagles' claiming that the minorities are taking over) and since he is a law abiding citizen was able to arm himself to the teeth and kill eight people.  A week later the guy in Uvalde who thought the world was not treating him right and because he was a well-ordered militia was able to buy a couple super guns because he was a mature eighteen years old and kill about twenty people.  And maybe the fate of the walking man does not seem like such a big deal beside those massacres.

But he was OUR walking man and he never bothered any of us.  And that fuck, that suburban fuck, had to take a bus and a train to come downtown and bother somebody who never bothered nobody and take the train and the bus back home because, you know, he was angry.