Every city has its own special personalities that everybody knows of, but nobody really knows. And while I understand that some people look at them and feel bad, I’ve always been fascinated by them.

Maybe I’ve even admired them. The courage. The way they’ve decided to do whatever it is they want to do. The best ones are obviously the ones that are not dangerous.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Mrs. Sunshine.

Maybe she wouldn’t seem as charming if I met her today, but back in the 1970s, she was quite a sight in the Helsinki suburb we lived in. She was called Mrs Sunshine thanks to her summery dresses, and makeup that included bright red balls painted on her cheeks. Oh, and two wigs. On top of each other.

I used to stand on my parents’ bed and look out of their bedroom window to see her stroll back and forth in front of our house.

Somehow, I didn’t think it sounded too bad to be “Mrs Sunshine”.

2. The Fire Inspector

Sure, this gentleman is actually very unlike the rest, because he only did one thing and he wasn’t as, um, eccentric as the others.

But he was somebody who kept the community together, without ever saying a word. He would walk around the suburb twice a day, dressed in brown pants and a white shirt – I’m sure he did the same walk 365 days a year, but I only remember seeing him in the summer – and an aura of class that comes from being a pro.

He was a retired fire inspector, or so the story went, and he never stopped doing the rounds.

Good thing that, because in 1978, when the church was partly destroyed in a fire, guess who called the fire brigade?

That’s right.

3. The Shorts Guy

I feel like I owe something to this guy. When I moved to Stockholm ten years ago, I was obviously an outsider. But a few months into my stay, somebody mentioned “the shorts guy” and I knew who he was. He may also be known as “The Beard”, because his thing is to walk around and ride the subway dressed in shorts. Only.

He’s got a beard that hides his entire head inside it, and then those (often green) shorts. I remember seeing him by the skating rink in the downtown park, hopping in place there, watching the skaters, listening to his walkman, which he’s always carrying with him.

And yes, shorts in the middle of the winter, he does that all year round.

Although, I am sorry to say, haven’t seen him in years.

4. The Ball Man

Imagine a square. A square in the middle of a city, with a lot of people, with a chequered pavement that looks kind of like a chessboard from up above, and with a lot of doves that hang around the square juuuuust in case an innocent 2-year-old would not be holding onto his hot dog as tightly as he should. (But that’s another story).

Imagine then, in the middle of the square a man, a CD player, and a soccer ball.

Then imagine that this man takes the ball and throws it straight up in the air, as high as he can, watches if bounce off the pavement, then run to pick it up. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Congratulations, you have just created a mental image of the Ball Man.