Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of business

By Darrell Laurant

Published: February 27, 2008

Call it the Wave of the Future - the future being April 15. "It's a good way to remind people," said Christen Cross, general manager for Lynchburg's two Liberty Tax Service offices. "It catches their eye."

She was referring to Liberty's January to April practice of draping Statue of Liberty garb around people known as "wavers" and sending them out into their parking lots. The goal is to grab the attention of tax-paying citizens who may have forgotten that the April deadline for filing is fast approaching.

Send us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses hoping to get a refund. Oh, and watch out for that car in front of you.

"I've seen, like, four wrecks," David Chattin said on Wednesday. "People will look over this way and stare and not watch the road."

Standing in the mid-day chill at the intersection of Memorial and Oakley, his crown drooping over his head like blue-green dreadlocks, Chattin resembled some sort of American hallucination.

Children seem especially fascinated by the Statue of Liberty, he said.

"They get right up in the window to see me."

Chattin used to work for the Lane Company in Altavista before it closed, and then for the City of Lynchburg ("I was the person who cleaned up Miller Park"). The latter prepared him for working outside - like the real Statue of Liberty, he has to deal with the elements.

"It doesn't look like it," Chattin said of his statuesque robe, "but this is pretty warm. And when it rains, I have an umbrella, and I stand under the sign over there."

Once he dons the robe and crown, Chattin becomes a performer.

"I've also been a clown before," he said. "I just try to get a laugh out of people, make them feel good. Maybe I can find a girlfriend this way."

He certainly has the personality to

succeed in that quest, although it's a little hard to imagine a potential romantic interest glancing over at a guy dressed as the Statue of Liberty and saying: "Now there's someone I'd like to get to know better."

But Chattin doesn't just stand there and wave. He jumps up and down. He flashes a double "thumbs up" sign. Sometimes, when he feels particularly inspired, he does what he calls "a dance two-step."

"I only do that when I have my music on, though," he said. "I don't have it on today."

Neither did Theresa Harris. At one point, she didn't have her crown on, either.

"Oops," she said as a frisky February breeze whisked it off her head.

It happened again in the first few minutes after she relieved Chattin, at which point she finally pulled a cord down around her neck to hold the headpiece on.

Harris is a "CNA" (Certified Nursing Assistant") who is currently between nursing jobs and would, by the way, like for someone to hire her to work from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m. I told her I'd tell you that.

She wouldn't tell me how much she's paid to be a waver for 20 hours a week, but said: "It's OK. It's not bad."

Like Chattin, Harris likes people, and compares her Liberty gig to "being a greeter at Wal-Mart."

Do passersby ever shout unkind things at her-

"Sometimes," she said with a smile. "I just ignore them."

Liberty is a national chain, and so Statues of Liberty are currently waving at motorists all over America.

"We've been doing it for years," said Cross. "It really works. They've done research."

But the local Liberty franchise hasn't stopped there. They've placed a giant Statue of Liberty atop their Timberlake Road store, and that location is also planning to host a party on March 15 ("Free food, free drinks," Cross said) to raise money for God's Pit Crew.

Who knew that taxes could be this much fun-