Spinning the message

For these sign twirlers, lords of the boards, holding up ads can be an art and a calling.

Published online on Friday, Mar. 14, 2008

Good sign twirlers display an enthusiasm so abundant they make beauty pageant contestants look sullen. They dance. They wave. They smile, even when dodging insults and bottles tossed their way by mean passers-by.

Standing on a street corner waving a cardboard advertisement -- rain or shine, weather blustery or blistering, for not much more than minimum wage -- can't be that fulfilling, can it? You've got to wonder why they do it.

To find out, we asked four of Fresno's most striking sign twirlers.

The Rocker

Gordon Shockley takes Shakespeare's claim that "all the world's a stage" to its ultimate destination.

Shockley, 40, roams the corner of Shaw and Blackstone avenues dressed in blue jeans, a black sweat shirt and in-line skates. Black ball cap turned backward? Check. Fingertips cut from his black gloves? Check. Mirrored sunglasses that would be the envy of Bono? Double check.

Shockley says that being on his feet seven hours a day, six days a week beats hanging around waiting for life to become interesting. He's been doing this for nearly two years, about the time that he finished a rehab program for drug and alcohol abuse.

"See, I don't like to stay at home and do nothing," he says. "It drives me nuts."

He cradles a sign for Ritz Jewelry like a guitar, strumming, spinning, rolling, dancing and croaking out lyrics to the AC/DC and Red Hot Chili Peppers tunes he listens to on his portable disc player.

"When I'm out here, performing," he says, "I ask the girls, 'Who's No. 1?' Me. I'm No. 1. I put on the best shows. I sing and play the air guitar. They love it, too. I put a smile on everyone's face."

Approaching his job as entertainment makes the day go faster. Music makes him move and keeps him warm in blustery weather. The in-line skates allow him to cover more ground, although there are drawbacks.

"When the wind gets too strong, I take them off because holding this," he says, waving his sign, "it's almost like a kite. It gets me rolling. ... If you go off the sidewalk, the cars are moving, you get hit."

Uncle Sam

Walter Smith, 56, doesn't need music to entertain himself as he stands along Blackstone Avenue, holding a mock highway sign near a Liberty Tax Service office that reads, "W-2's Exit Here Merge Right."

"I just count the cars as they go by," he says. "I count the Cadillacs for an hour. I count the Mercedes for an hour. It makes the time go by."

Smith, who spent the past eight years as a truck driver, says he decided a couple months ago to get off the road to spend more time with family. Dressing in red and white stripes, blue tails and a patriotic top hat was one of two jobs (he also cleans kennels for the Fresno SPCA) he did until recently starting computer classes.

If getting by means hearing profane gripes about the United States from a few people (unhappy taxpayers perhaps?), then so be it.

"People flip the bird," Smith says. "I give them the peace sign."

He knows not everyone is willing to do a seasonal, part-time job like his. But as a self-described people person, he doesn't mind being out in public.

"It's an honest living," he says. "A lot of people don't want to work. They'd rather sit around and do nothing and wait on the government to give them something, or use the system. That's not where it's at."

His advice to anyone considering following in his footsteps is succinct.

"I've been on my feet since 8 o'clock this morning," he says mid-afternoon.

"You've got to have a good pair of shoes."

The Careerist