Street Portraiture: Faces of Kissimmee, #7 (Squeek! Squeek!)

As I sat at Mrs. Mac’s restaurant on Wednesday, enjoying a magnificent piece of lemon meringue pie (seriously delicious!), I suddenly became aware of a squeeking sound. So absorbed had I been in overexciting my taste buds, I hadn’t noticed someone had come in and started cleaning the windows. As my back was to one of these, it wasn’t long before we courteously greeted each other; he with a “hello”, and me with a “[unintelligible sound] this pie!”. He smiled and nodded in agreement and left me to my preoccupation.

I left the restaurant a short time later, lamenting that I hadn’t indulged in a second piece of pie but intent on capturing a few photographs for this series. It wasn’t long before I noticed the window washer doing his thing at another downtown storefront. I had still found no victims, save a parking enforcement officer writing a ticket. Though I had asked, he didn’t think it a good idea to be photographed while performing the task he had at hand. (Huh. Imagine that.)

Thinking of so many other things I needed to be doing at home as I took in the view of the empty 3 PM sidewalks ahead, I decided to pack it in. I would turn east and then turn again, heading back toward my car a block off Broadway. It was when I turned east that things changed, for there he was again: the window washer. I realized it was just meant to be.

I introduced myself and as Lee introduced himself in return, he jokingly asked if I was following him. I replied that it was unintentional, but yeah, I was. He told me how he had made his living washing windows in downtown Kissimmee for over 40 years. We spoke of the changes that had transformed the area in the passing of those years. He said I wasn’t the first over those years that wanted to take his photograph, either. I thanked him for letting me be the next one.