by Peggy Robin
I’d like to put in a little public service announcement –
it’s a heads-up for anyone who may be traveling by Metro tomorrow (Sunday)
between 1 and 4 pm, to let you know that you will probably see a lot of people
in just their underwear from the waist down. Don’t freak out – they’re not
creepy exhibitionists. Well, maybe some are, but it’s all part of an annual organized
prank called NO PANTS ON THE SUBWAY DAY.
And not just in Washington, DC. It’s a GLOBAL phenomenon.
Sixty cities, twenty-five countries all over the world. Why would anyone bother
to organize such a thing (you might well ask), putting in so much effort that
might, for example, have gone into giving out food to the homeless or some
other socially useful operation? I don’t have the answer to that one…..maybe it’s
just that every so often people like an excuse to do something kooky and surprising.
But whatever it is that motivates the participants, it’s obviously got staying
power, as this event is now its 14th (!) year. (A good history of the
phenomenon is here: http://www.ibtimes.com/pantless-pranksters-history-no-pants-subway-ride-1535846.)
If you’d like to get a sense of what it’s like to witness
this event without actually taking a ride on the Metro ride on a Sunday (because
who know when a train will come on a weekend in DC?), go to:
If you do decide to venture into the system tomorrow – with or
without your pants – and you are able to take some entertaining video of
pants-less passengers, you are encouraged to post them to Youtube on the “Improv
Everywhere” channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/ImprovEverywhere.
And by all means, let the Cleveland Park Listserv know about it, too. Maybe
your post will win one of the “CP Listies” in December! (See http://alllifeislocal.blogspot.com/2015/12/still-life-with-robin-cp-listies-part.html
and http://alllifeislocal.blogspot.com/2015/12/still-life-with-robin-cp-listservs.html
for the 2015 winners and nominees).
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Still Life With Robin is posted on The Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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