This is from today's Winnipeg Sun: Two members of the winnipeg uniform bicycle patrol have found and returned a $ 3,000 mountain bike. A squeegee kid had possession of it. The bike has been traced to it's original owner - a 44 year old Toronto man who says he has toured B.C. and hte eastern provinces on it, and figured he would never see it again. The owner of the bike is David Way, the director for Discovery Health Channel. The two police officers were called about 4:30 PM Monday to the corner of Osborne & Broadway for a report of an agressive squeegee guy who was wearing a Darth Vader mask and running in and out of traffic. The officers located a 24 year old man - who didn't have a Darth vader mask, but matched the description of the suspect and were simply going to tell him to move along, when they spotted the bike leaning against a bench behind him. After determining the Cannondale 21 speed bike had been stolen October 21st,2004 from a garage in Toronto, the police arrested the the squeegee guy.

The police are in the process of making arrangements to have the bike, which is being held in police storage, shipped back to it's rightful owner.

I was riding in the same area on Saturday afternoon except I was across the street whe I noticed a squeegee kid wearing a Darth Vader mask and trying to drum up business, I noticed the bike as well, but I was too far away to get a really close look at it, but I did see it leaning up against the bench though.

What does squeegee mean here, please?

Last time I was in Canada there were several young women who were squegeeing topless. Does this still go on? It was quite a sight.

A metal or plastic handled tool with a rubber blade for removing fluid from non-porous surfaces.

Squeegee kids hang out at intersections with a squeegee and a spray bottle "cleaning" windshields in hopes of getting a tip. Though at 24 years of age I don't think he qualifies, at least phsically, as a kid anymore.

Not to hijack the thread, but maybe I need to start hanging with you Ziemas. Naked bike protesters in Latvia, topless female sqeegee-ers in Canada, what's next, nude hang gliders at Kitty Hawk? :D

Oh, I know what you mean--I just had never heard them referred to as a "squeegee" person!

Around here, most people call them "homeless"

What do you call them??? "Homeless person of auto window maintenance?"

I just call the guys like this one - Homeless bike thieving scum. Honolulu has a lot of them. One homeless guy, I call the Homeless Bike Shop. He repairs bikes and steals bikes for resale to other homeless. He charges the guys some amount of drugs for his services and the gals he charges about 2 hours of time under his tarp shelter. Wish I could get the cops here to do something about the problem.

Good to see the Canadian cops are on the job.

Last year I was biking on a little path in the woods and came upon a homeless camp, they had a few nice bikes but I wasn't able to get a close look because I heard a noise and ran.

Ran because I was walking at the time trying to videotape the place, my friend was outside the woods on the bike path holding my bike up so I could jump back on it and take off incase the homeless tried to chase me.

We called them squeegee people too until Rudy Giuliani drove them out of New York in the early 90s.
Now we know where they went :D

Stacy

I didn't know what to call them--I thought "squeegee person" was some obscure bit of Canadian slang/term of "insult"!

I guess after reading the other posts, I'd call them homeless persons--or "persons of unknown residency" (POUR!)

Not at Kitty Hawk, no...but topless women get one free tandem flight at Wallaby Ranch hanggliding school,
http://www.wallaby.com

I'm surprised that they were able to determine (or at least somewhat associate) the bike as stolen.

I'm surprised that there are any 21-speed mountain bikes worth three grand.

Or is that three grand in Monopoly money?