There are some older Christian myths revolving around garlic and how it was formed out of the left footprint of the devil. Why left? It derives from Latin, where "sin" and "sinestra" are related to both the left side and the being evil. On the right foot, btw, was the formation of the onion. If you look at Jainism, their culture views frequent garlic consumption as a fairly negative thing. There's a similar belief with Islam. Eastern Europeans tend to, in their folk lore, have a completely opposite belief and associate a garlic with a sort of protection from those left-handed, evil spirits. This has been picked up in vampire lore, with most bloodsuckers repelled by the scent of garlic. Poor garlic. In some cultures it is revered for protection and, in others, garlic is verboten. When we asked you about your favorite city vehicle, dear Graverobber agreed with our pick of a street sweeper but felt he also needed an amulet to prevent their intrusion.
I concur with the Street sweepers, only because as a youth, I would sometimes be awakened in the inkiness of the early morning to the approaching din of the sweeper down the street. It sounded unlike any other vehicle plying the road- an odd mixture of engine rumble and that creepy drubbing swoosh of the brushes.
It would get louder and louder as it hugged the curb, nearing our house. The staccato racket so skeeved me out that I would lay there in bed getting more and more tense until after it passed and the noise subsided. For some reason, I always pictured the machine being driven by a maniacal clown, who was actually seeking children to sweep into the contrivance's bowels for god knows what purpose.
Under the comforting safety of daylight,my friends and I would note the odd patterns along the curb, and would occasionally discover a loosened metal blade from one of the brushes, much like a shark's tooth, dislodged in battle, and cast to the bottom of the sea. We each had a collection of these at our homes, conceived, in childlike fashion, as a totem in protection from these evil machines that haunted the night. I guess they worked, as no one I know was ever consumed by a sweeper.
Photo Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images