Friends of Gabriel Chantayan

My brother's friend claims his cousin works in a kiosk near the tram depot and that this cousin saw Gabriel Chantayan himself boarding the 154 with a folded newspaper under his arm, which of course everyone has now passed along as fact, complete with the colour of his coat (grey, naturally, because every rumour of this sort selects grey) and the precise minute of the sighting. I will state plainly that I do not believe a word of it: a rumour relayed through four separate people, none of whom will give a name, a date, or a stop, is not evidence, it is a parlor game. If even one of these intermediaries can produce a photograph, a ticket stub, a timestamp, anything beyond hearsay with a wardrobe detail attached, I will retract this post publicly. Until then, what exactly is the proof supposed to be here? Someone's cousin's colleague glanced at a man on a tram and we are meant to build a doctrine on it? I have asked for the kiosk's address and been given "somewhere near the depot," which is the vaguest location it is possible to write down. Perhaps someone here will tell me I am being uncharitable; I am not, I am simply unwilling to accept an anonymous coat colour as a revelation. -- GV

Grammar_Vigil wrote:a rumour relayed through four separate people

ok but did anyone check if the grey coat had orange lining

Grammar_Vigil - I gotta say, reading your post is like hearing someone finally speak a language I've been trying to teach the whole board for 105 days

u asked for the kiosk address. u asked for a name. u asked for anything beyond "somewhere near the depot." This is EXACTLY what I've been asking FF24 for since June 14 - ONE screenshot, ONE topic number that actually has my words on it, ONE real attachment that doesnt return e69de29bb when u run sha1sum on it

So here's my blunt question to the thread - and I want an ANSWER, not a "well my cousin said" -

WHAT IS THE ADDRESS OF THE KIOSK?!?!?!?!?!?!

Like. Street. Number. Nearest cross street. The name on the awning. Anything. A tram goes past it so there's a tram stop WITH A NAME. Did the cousin's coworker's son mention WHICH STOP he saw Gabriel boarding at? Because "the 154" is a ROUTE, not a location - it runs from like. Cheltenham to somewhere. Did he get on at a stop with a bench? A shelter? A pothole I can look up on Google Maps Local?

Because here's the thing - if nobody can name the kiosk, nobody can verify the kiosk worker's story. And if nobody can verify the story, then what we have is not a sighting, it's a FOURTH-generation game of telephone where the coat is grey because every coat in every "Gabriel was here" story since 1999 has been grey

I'm not saying it DIDNT happen - I'm saying nobody in this thread has even ASKED the one question that would turn this from hearsay into a report

Where's the kiosk. Name the street. Then we can talk about the folded newspaper

e: actually wait - folded newspaper under his arm?? Which newspaper?? The Guardian had a specific headline that day. The Metro had a different fold pattern. If the kiosk worker recalls which PAPER, not just that there WAS a paper, that's verifiable against newsstands in the area. If he remembers "some newspaper" then he remembers a shape not a detail. And I ask this as someone who has been watching people remember SHAPES instead of DETAILS for 105 days running about topic 2483