A stroll down Hairy Man Road
A few times while looking up directions in our city I came across an amusing little "Easter egg" (an inside joke developers sometimes add to software) in Google Maps:
Those wacky guys at Google snuck in the name Hairy Man Road for a little-known side street in our town. Hah! What will they think of next?
Then yesterday, as I was taking a back way to the post office, I almost caused an accident when I saw a sign labeling a charming little tree-lined lane that actually said HAIRY MAN RD.
I must know: whose call was it to give this street this name? Did the neighborhood developer perhaps delegate a little too much responsibility to his interns? Or was there some hasty "Name a Street in Our Neighborhood!" contest in which someone forgot to include a disclaimer about the contest winner needing city approval before the name was official?
I believe I actually saw some houses on this road, which immediately made me wonder: who purchases a house on Hairy Man Road? Maybe it's real estate investment genius: I mean, the houses have to lose about $20K of value simply for the street name. Heck, we're actually in the market for a house. Maybe I could get my own 3,500 sq. ft. McMansion in my price range if I'm willing to live on a street whose name makes everyone uncomfortable.
I was trying to picture how that would actually play out, and one thing that immediately came to mind is that it would pretty much rule out any sort of classy parties or formal events. I can just see the embossed invitation now:
And I often use my home address for business purposes. I can just hear how that phone call with the financial manager would go: "I hope you found that our services exceeded your expectations. You can send the check to our office at 970 Hairy Man Road...Yeah...I said 'Hairy Man'. Mmm-hmm...spelled just like it sounds...No, not 'Harry'."
As you can tell, I've put way too much time into thinking through life on a street called Hairy Man. I might just have to bite the bullet and call and city to find out the story behind it. Since this is undoubtedly a topic of high fascination for the rest of the world as well, I will post any addition information our city call can give me on this matter.
Those wacky guys at Google snuck in the name Hairy Man Road for a little-known side street in our town. Hah! What will they think of next?
Then yesterday, as I was taking a back way to the post office, I almost caused an accident when I saw a sign labeling a charming little tree-lined lane that actually said HAIRY MAN RD.
I must know: whose call was it to give this street this name? Did the neighborhood developer perhaps delegate a little too much responsibility to his interns? Or was there some hasty "Name a Street in Our Neighborhood!" contest in which someone forgot to include a disclaimer about the contest winner needing city approval before the name was official?
I believe I actually saw some houses on this road, which immediately made me wonder: who purchases a house on Hairy Man Road? Maybe it's real estate investment genius: I mean, the houses have to lose about $20K of value simply for the street name. Heck, we're actually in the market for a house. Maybe I could get my own 3,500 sq. ft. McMansion in my price range if I'm willing to live on a street whose name makes everyone uncomfortable.
I was trying to picture how that would actually play out, and one thing that immediately came to mind is that it would pretty much rule out any sort of classy parties or formal events. I can just see the embossed invitation now:
Jennifer cordially invites you to a caviar and champagne tasting at her home on Saturday, the seventeenth of February, two thousand and seven. 970 Hairy Man Road
And I often use my home address for business purposes. I can just hear how that phone call with the financial manager would go: "I hope you found that our services exceeded your expectations. You can send the check to our office at 970 Hairy Man Road...Yeah...I said 'Hairy Man'. Mmm-hmm...spelled just like it sounds...No, not 'Harry'."
As you can tell, I've put way too much time into thinking through life on a street called Hairy Man. I might just have to bite the bullet and call and city to find out the story behind it. Since this is undoubtedly a topic of high fascination for the rest of the world as well, I will post any addition information our city call can give me on this matter.
7 Comments:
Too funny! Please post what you find out.
Hey, I'm interested.
My reaction was the same as yours a few years ago when we had to go to a swim meet over there. Someone actually told me why it's called that, but of course my addled brain cannot recall what exactly the story was. Remind me when you find out!
Would be even worse if your name read like this:
R E Gain
Hairy Man Road
That's worse than the street I live on: Wood Stone Walk Drive. I always thought it sounded like someone couldn't make their mind up.
I friend of mine in the area just mentioned there was this Hairy Man Festival held there!
Being a lifelong North-Austinite, I heard the legend of hairy man road often during my career in the public school system. One version states that he's the ghost of a hobo who was hit by some drunk kids on (insert school's name here) prom night, another that he was lost in the forest as an infant and raised by bears or something. Fables aside, Hairy Man Road is a legend in itself. Everyone around here knows it by name. People have proposed on Hairy Man Road, not because it was convenient, but because it's Hairy Man Road. I'm happy Google got it right.
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