Who Is Florida Man?
Florida Man was unknown to me until I moved to the Sunshine State. And I have to admit, I was missing out on an entertaining piece of Florida culture. So who is Florida Man?
Florida Man was a meme, began in 2013, and is a catch-all for all the wacky news stories perpetrated by, you got it, Florida Man. I did a little research, and learned that one factor allowing Florida Man to proliferate unchecked is that Florida has some very good open records laws. Government officials can’t have a meeting without making it public, and records are available to journalists and citizens. It is apparently a simple matter to call a police department and get an arrest report, mug shot, whatever, within very short order. So, of course, journalists covering Florida have tons of available material! While other memes and social media trends fade in time, Florida Man is alive and well. I’m sure this sort of wierdness exists in other places, but we are transparent here about our acts of lunacy.
There is a Florida Man Twitter account (or there was. I didn’t verify), and I even found a Florida Man board game. Yes, it’s a thing. One fun thing I read about is to look up the term ‘Florida Man’ and enter your birthday to find a story for your special day!
I looked up my birthday, just for fun, to test the claim. There were several, actually. My favorite was:
“Florida Man Calls Police to Report Stolen Marijuana”
If you think that’s funny, just wait, there’s more! This is all just for fun, although in some cases the people involved may actually have some serious issues and I don’t mean to make light of that. But sometimes you do have to take a minute to appreciate the craziness of our world with some humor. So, just for entertainment, here are some Florida Man headlines. Florida Man is into animals, for one thing:
Those are some sexy beasts!
“Police Find Nearly a Dozen Stolen Zoo Animals in Florida Man’s Home”
“Florida Man Trying to Smuggle Dead Alligator in Car”
“Florida Man and His Chicken Develop Social Media Fame”
Florida Man is also into politics and in one headline it was noted that Florida Man has better approval ratings in Florida than Rick Scott.
“Florida Man Arrested for Beating Drag Queen with Tiki Torch While Dressed as Member of KKK; Now Running for Mayor”
Florida Man has an interesting relationship with police, as you might guess:
“Florida Man with Florida Tattoo on Forehead Arrested for Calling 911 to ask for Ride Home”
“Florida Man Breaks Into Jail to Hang with Friends”
“Florida Man Wears F*** The Police Shirt to Court; Wins Case”
“Florida Man Arrested for Assaulting Girlfriend with Fried Chicken”
“Florida Man Says he Danced on Patrol Car to Escape Vampires”
“Florida Man Stabs Tourist Despite Having No Arms”
Who hasn’t done this?
And sometimes he’s just a wild and crazy guy:
“Florida Man Suspected of Using Private Plan to Draw Giant Radar Penis”
“Florida Man Steals BMW After He’s Told He Can’t Buy it with Food Stamps”
There is no shortage of crazy Florida Man stories out there. Just go look, if you want some cheap entertainment. I may even have to buy the board game!
I hate it when that happens!