Pun Intended

I've always loved Washington Square Park.  In college I spent many afternoons there and met quite a cast of characters.  So when my family came to visit during my senior year, it was one of the spots that I most wanted to share with them. 

My mom, my sister and I were sitting on one of the cement benches that fan out from the center of the park.  Almost immediately we noticed a peculiar man having an animated conversation, seemingly with himself.  He was quite tall and gangly, with a suit of clothes about two sizes too small and too short.  Rather Pee Wee Herman-esque.  But he wasn't there to draw attention to himself, and he wasn't putting on a show for spare change.  He was just going about his business and was extremely involved in this conservation with no one in particular.  We continued to watch his antics for a good twenty minutes, chuckling to ourselves, never taking our eyes off him.

Then a stray branch from one of the trees overhead brushed his shoulder as he spastically moved about.  Suddenly, and with tremendous conviction, he whipped around and shouted at the offending limb...

"LEAF ME ALONE!"

I think we nearly fell on the ground with laughter.  You probably had to be there, as they say, but I think of that day every single time I pass through the park.  And it never fails to make me laugh out loud, just as it did today.