Morton Street

The rumor spread like wildfire tonight: Robbie Felder, who has spent much of the past decade shuffling up and down Morton Street asking for handouts, was dead.

Not true, counter people who say they know his family: Nobody's seen the white-bearded guy recently on Morton Street by Blue Hill Avenue because he's in rehab.

The story unfolded on his Facebook fan page (yes, of course, he has a Facebook fan page):

PEOPLE ARE SOO IGG FAMILY HAS STATED THT MR.BOBBY IS ALIVE AND DOING WELL HIS SO CALLED FANS ARE STILL DECLEARING HIM DEAD AND FOR THOSE WHO CALL HIM A BUM AKA BUMB MR. FELDER ATTEND MORNING STAR BAP CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY I CAN SPEAK FOR THAT HOW MANY BUMBS DO YOU NO WHO ATTEND CHURCH SERVICES PEOPLE GET A LIFE

Anybody who's ever driven down Morton Street in Mattapan knows the white-bearded guy who shuffles up and down the middle of the street by Blue Hill Avenue. Our own eeka reports that for some continuing-ed class, she did "a functional behavioral assessment" on him:

... The function of waving seems to be attract positive attention from other individuals. The purpose might also be to avoid the negative interactions that are often aimed toward people who are perceived as not having a job; it does seem that everyone in the area knows of this person and many seem to find him charming – while at the same time feeling a bit exasperated that he is behaving unsafely. This latter perception might in fact be a product of his waving, and the fact that people find him friendly might mean that they are more likely to avoid him and wish him well rather than finding him annoying and trying to run him off the road. It seems to be an adaptive response that he responds in a friendly/apologetic manner to cars honking at him, rather than a reactive manner that is more likely to start an altercation. ...