Reub's journey

13 October 2011

The Foam Man

This is The Foam Man's idea of advertising. It's on the exterior of the little building that he shares with a car stereo place. It is, of course, a foam man, and he's been there as long as we have been here.




We moved here in 1998, and I'm kind of shocked when I realize how often I have been to this place: The Foam Man, Corvallis, Oregon.




I mean, how often do you really need foam? For us, apparently once every couple of years. Foam for cushions, a dog bed, what else? We shipped a guitar packed in foam to Australia. 




 These words came from Yelp, an online review site:
I love that this place still exists. It's one of those stores that you think would fail in a week... but it's still there year after year. They sell... foam...Michael N. from Seattle



 Yep.



 Any kind of foam you might want. There is a surprising array of foam.



 
I was accompanying John, who was looking for a wedge to elevate his head at night. His doctor had sent him to The Foam Man. Naturally I was dying to go along.




This time we asked him how he got into this business; how did he decide to do this?



He glanced up at us, and said with surprising directness: "You've heard of going postal? Well, I used to be a firefighter for many years, but I hated my supervisor and finally I came to the conclusion that I must kill my boss. Yes! I would murder my boss, and I would go to prison, and the government would take care of my family. So I spent some time in a padded cell, and when I came out I cashed in my retirement and bought this business. Been doing it ever since."



John made a lame joke about "the padded cell being a huge inspiration" and I took a hurried snapshot.



When you ask questions like that, you never really know what you're gonna get.

14 comments:

  1. oh lordy. you know how they say there's some truth in every rumor? wonder how much truth there is in his statement?! :)

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  2. Foam for every occasion! I like the signs.

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  3. omg, thats a freaking lot of foam! haha :D

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  4. wow bizarre. But in a way you can see why he would like to work with foam, it's so relaxing after fire fighting and if you get angry you can just punch a piece of foam! That foam man is also weird :)

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  5. We too have a local foam store.That stuff is not cheap.

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  6. Fantastic post! FOAM. Yay for foam.

    I'm thinking I need to take a journey to Oregon to visit friends in Portland and my family in Eugene. I would love to meet you, Kerry, and perhaps go shopping for foam. Ya think?

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  7. twg:lordy is right. He didn't seem like he was kidding, at all.
    Rebecca: Foam for so many many occasions.
    GG: He saves every scrap, and eventually somebody, for whatever weird reason, buys it.
    Jenny Woolf: Foam-punching!! One more excellent reason for foam's existence.(Must say, having you show up here makes me want to go out and get your excellent book on Lewis Carroll...talk about a weird character...)
    ER: John's wedge cost $35! That's a lot, but probably cheaper than decongestants.
    REYA! Please let's get in touch when you visit OR! I would just love that.

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  8. Poor foam man, he's been there so long he's hanging his head in shame.

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  9. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150355865562590&set=a.10150355865122590.377544.657402589&type=3&theater

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  10. Reya: Big big smiles for your 3-paw dawg! Too bad fb just has a "Like" option and not a "Love" one!

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  11. Kady: I know, right? That's just what I said when we walked out his door.

    Friko: It's either shame or maybe just sheer exhaustion?

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  12. Fantastic blog entry! The Foam Man is a Corvallis institution. I grew up with this place. Now that I live in the far reaches of the galaxy, it's nice to be able to find a place on the interweb where I can close my eyes and breathe in the fresh aroma of foam. :) I'm glad you captured a picture of The Dude himself, too.

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    1. Hi Anon! So fun to see your comment this morning! I pictured you being nostalgic for your old hometown, and...googling... "Corvallis Foam Man" !!?? Wow, awesome.

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