The Ultimate Beach Bum.

I just love these stories. Guys who live the beach bum life. Bruno Battaglia, though, is probably the most dedicated beach bum I’ve seen. Just about every day for the past 4o years, he has been going to the beach. He brings something to drink, a chair (new one every year), a rag for sand, and some SPF 15. He doesn’t bring food, or a book. He just sits there in the sun. He doesn’t even go in the water, which to me is a little weird, but hey, to each his own.

The thing is, he’s not in Florida, or California, but New Jersey. Where there is only beach weather for about three months. Of course Bruno goes to the beach anyway, into November or longer.

He has no bank account, credit cards, or cell phone. He was given a house by an elderly couple when they died. He works as a massage therapist on the side. People on the beach love him. They bring him food, he does favors for them, and he talks to them. He has no worries.

It is amazing to me that someone can still live the way he wants in our culture. I love the beach, and relaxing, but I don’t know if I could be so dedicated that I did nothing but sit there all day. I’m not sure if I’m that lazy. I kind of have mixed feelings about this. I kind of admire Bruno. Maybe I’m a little jealous too, but I also think that he’s got no life. Nothing to live for.

“My goal is a healthy hundred,” he says. On that day, Sept. 13, 2048, he will set up as usual, take a bottle of sleeping pills and leave a note. Hopefully, the sun will be out.

That, to me, is sad.

Posted on July 12, 2007 - Filed Under Beach Bums, Beach News and Stories

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