MazDan said:
I have been tossing and turning and turning and tossing as to whether or not to ask this question...............and I just have to know.
What the fuck is a trough man?
Trough man was a guy that was kicking around Sydney in the early to mid 1990's.
His schtick was that he would go to a nightclub or pub, walk into the toilet and then slide straight into the urinal. His objective was then to allow all and sundry to urinate onto him. Some people say that he wore rubber gear but the majority of people I have heard from say that he wore a 3 piece suit and the rumour was that it was a Zegna that some one had given him. Perhaps he started in the rubber and moved to the suit later in his career.
He would pick his mark though in that he would only do this around Darlinghusrt/Oxford street area where people tended to be a bit more open minded. Surely you can imagine what would happen if he did this at Bankstown Leagues club or the Clovelly hotel - he'd get his arse kicked!
Trough man was very well known in the GAL community and would often be at Mardi-Gras and Sleaze ball functions. Though no one really knew him to have any partners or even any constant group of friends. The most info I ever got on the guy was from a friend who used to work at the Tool Shed across from Kinselas. Trough man went in there frequently to use the public message board (early internet pre-myspace days here kiddies) to meet people for S&M sessions and to buy porn. For a job he used to deliver street press in and around the city.
Like I said earlier, I missed my opportunity but a few others I knew where there when he did it. Contrary to popular belief though he didn't actually languish in there, it was all over within 10-15 minutes and then he'd just leave and a few times he was kicked out.
In around 96-97 a friend of mine was working a cab while he was at uni and he was often backwards and forwards around darlinghurst, randwick, paddington and KX etc. One night he was taking a group of people from KX to the Courthouse and picked up from the conversation that they where going there for a send off for Trough man. Evidently he had contracted an E-coli infection in and around his eye and ocular cavity. This combined with the fact that his T cell count was exceptionaly low meant that he passed away due to complications from the infection.
He wasn't a pioneer though. In the 80's there was a guy doing similar things in New York and another guy in DC who encouraged everyone to spit on him. From stories I have heard there are rumours of a Trough man in Antwerp, London and just about any capital city you can think of.
This guy though was the real deal.
