Flash Mob Austin 1
Well. It happened. It was a very weird experience for me; I knew what was going on, but i had no idea what to expect. I handed off what I needed to hand off way before the event, and it was up to the Fates long before I arrived.
Backing up.
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I don't know if the experience of flashmobbing felt surreal because it is what it is or because I was buzzing on two Venti Starbucks coffees in the 90 minutes before the FlashMob (actually one and a half... more on that, later).
the whole idea of a group of strangers coming together for the sole purpose of being silly is, I think, an anachronism for these times of mass layoffs, terror, and trouble. To be part of a group wanting nothing but to experience and spread joy is such a relief from the day-to-day gnashing.
(you have to forgive the pseudo-metaphysical, pseudo-intellectual babbling... I've yet to come down from the experience).
I dreamt about the flashmob last night.
Seriously. It's become a sickness, I know.
In my dreammob, we were all riding ostriches around and around inside a restaurant on sixth street. Ever see an ostrich in real life? Those birds are MUCH bigger than you would expect! But in my dream, they were all people-sized and were wearing cute little hats with flowers and bells on their ankles.
Anyway, I had to make a delivery at the Hyatt for an event that my non-profit is pulling off tomorrow (no... not artistic... not clandestine ;)), so i was actually in the area around 4:45. i found a fairly decent parking spot right on Brazos and sixth (about a block from Starbucks), popped in a few parking quarters to top off the meter and then walked up and down the street a little bit.
I stopped in for a lemonade at Jamba Juice to settle my stomach a little bit (actually, that was a bad idea... too acidic), and to verify that yes, it DID close at 7:00. So I crossed the street, expecting to get wireless access at the Schlotsky's... well, they were closing, and the wireless wasn't working, so i finally decided to head over to Starbucks (my assigned spot).
When I was getting my coffee, the guys behind the counter were talking about how SLOW the night was. I smirked.
then the guy said, "It must be the full moon." Then he turned to me and said, I KID YOU NOT, "Has today been a very strange day for you?"
I couldn't help myself, "Yeah, come to think of it.. I think the full moon brings out all the weirdos."
Laugh. Laugh. Laugh. i don't think they were in on what was about to happen. In fact I remember them peering out the window with their jaws on the ground when we started the activity.
I parked myself at a table by the front window.
then began a very, very, VERY long hour and a half. I pulled out my laptop and started clearing out my inbox, responding to email that've been festering for a while... desperately wishing for free wireless access.
One thing I noticed about the spot: It was actually more ideal than I expected. I was remembering very narrow sidewalks and not enough milling-about space. Thinking about the action, I imagined there would be people crammed together, desperately trying not to fall off into the abyss of the street. Whomever picked the spot (and i know who that person is, and I know that he did a fair bit of scouting ahead of time) found an ideal location. 6th and congress. Lots of traffic (but not a death trap), a couple of major bus stops (always bustling with spectators), some tall buildings, nearby businesses, and foot-traffic friendly corners.
I sat, waiting and waiting for anyone to show up holding an umbrella. As the clock ticked closer to 7:00, I was finishing my first venti cup of coffee (that's the largest cup Starbucks offers, incidentally), and I needed to make a pit stop (mix of nerves and lemonade and coffee).
I was starting to get VERY disturbed as it appeared that NOBODY was going to show up. Then I saw a couple of girls walk in that looked promising. I tilted my head and deliberately slowed down on the way to the restroom and overheard them talking about the flashmob (it turns out that these were press people... at least one from the Statesman, and a couple from a magazine (Meredith, was that you?)).
So I knew the press would show up. There are some folks who are very angry and bitter that reporters would dare come and "spoil" the event. To those naysayers, I repectfully roll my eyes. The press will always do what the press will do. This is an interesting fad, but it won't be interesting for much longer. Those of us that are having fun will continue having our fun, and the press will move on.
There are some people, myself included, who look at flashmobs as potential political tools: Right now, we're rapidly assembling groups of people to act silly... There may come a time, when we've experimented and played long enough, that we'll use flashmobs to create political action... if that's a goal, we want to learn how to create pressworthy events.
In the meantime, I'm just happy being silly and would probably stop participating if FlashMobAustin started forming an explicit political agenda. if the press comes and takes pictures and tells stories... well, that's art.
I was very happy and thrilled to see some of the reporters actually participating in the flashmob, taking instructions, acting silly, and singing with the rest of us. I think that will make for a more interesting perspective.
I was also so grateful that they were being very respectful of our performance and weren't interfering. The photographers, for example, were very low-key and smiled and enjoyed the spectacle. I actually can't wait to see their photos... they're part of the art, too. They have an eye for making good visuals, and this event, I hope, gave them enough fodder for some interesting shots.
And by the way... those of us that are blogging the event are reporting as well. we may not be journalists, but we are being storytellers... the more the merrier.
Anywho... so after I evesdropped a little on the reporters' conversation, it was about 7:00 and I needed to walk back to my car and exchange my laptop for my umbrella(s) (I brought an extra, in case somebody was without).
On the way out the door, my heart skipped a beat when I saw a bunch of people milling around outside ALL HOLDING UMBRELLAS! That put an extra spring in my step as I hustled back to the car.
...well, it was a little TOO much of a spring in my step. Somehow, and I was too giddy to remember exactly what happened, I managed to drench myself with the remaining coffee in my cup. okay, I was jittery from the caffeine. For one split second, I thought to myself, "Oh NO! How embarassing!" then I realized I was about to make a fool out of myself regardless and suddenly it all seemed ok.
As I returned to Starbucks, I saw people all around me walking to the coffeeshop carrying umbrellas of all flavors. I was ecstatic. It was working; people were showing up! There was a group of at least 40 milling in front of Jamba Juice and Starbucks.
I was dumbstruck and in awe as I climbed the steps to enter the shop again.
That's when cute Austin American Statesman reporter engaged me in conversation. I didn't know immediately that she was from the Statesman... but okay, let's face it, I'm a guy, right? So when a good looking girl says to me, "Gee that's a nice umbrella you have there!" I have to go gah-gah... i have no choice.
The umbrella I was holding, by no mere coincidence, was indeed, an Austin American Statesman Stars and Stripes umbrella. i picked it partly because it's so obnoxiously colorful (nothing against Old Glory... just not on an umbrella), and partly because there was lots of talk of press beforehand.
Well, she noticed.
Look. It was obvious that she was in on the joke. But we played all coy and stuff, "Are you afraid it's going to rain?" "Yeah, well, look at the sky."
Then she pulled out her notebook, said she was from the Statesman, and asked if she could talk with me about what I was doing there.
I panicked. The coffee all over my face, the nervousness, those amazing geekgrrrl glasses... it was too much. I think i remember being rude to her. i definitely remember her face recoiling when i quickly cut her off and said, "I'm just going inside to get some coffee."
I'm so sorry cute Austin American Statesman Reporter... I'm really not that much of a jerk. I just hadn't received my instructions from the flashmob people, yet. Please forgive me.
So I went inside, got a refill on coffee and agonized some more for the next 10 minutes. See, I had been so afraid that something HORRIBLE was going to happen... that we were going to get swept away in paddy wagons by the Austin SWAT team... that people weren't going to enjoy themselves... that there would be chaos and people wandering around, getting hit by cars and cursing the day they joined the Yahoo Group. I think I was mostly afraid that people were going to think the idea was so dumb, so stupid, and so pointless that I would be the only jerk left opening and closing my umbrella, singing at the top of my lungs to the chorus of pointing and laughing hipsters... as if all of this was some elaborate joke on David.
I looked around and spotted people of all ages carrying umbrellas. I exchanged knowing nods and smiles with some folks sitting around. I grabbed a newspaper to make myself look busy, but I was just surveying. I smiled when I saw a family with two kids all carrying their umbrellas, waiting for the next step.
Then I saw, precisely at 7:20, Cowboy Hat Guy walk outside. Moment of truth.
Everyone drifted outside. He carried himself like a covert operative... handing out the top-secret-self-destructing-in-ten-seconds-clues... with those darting eyes, not saying anything... so hush-hush and secret spy-like... except for that hat! So perfectly absurd.
So I held my breath as I watched people scurry away to read their instructions. I was waiting for laughs... or for tsk-tsks. There was some of both.
I finally exhaled and collapsed onto the steps when I heard the little boy next to me sing "Supercalifragilisticexpealodocious" and his mom shush him and tell him to close his umbrella.
This might work, after all!
I sat surveying the crowd (which just seemed to grow by the minute). I knew that there was another mob coming down sixth street at 7:27, so I kept glancing at my cell phone to see if they were coming according to plan.
Yep.
Suddenly, people started walking to the corner. VERY SUDDENLY and WITHOUT EXPLANATION... EXACTLY LIKE A FLASHMOB OUGHT TO.
We waved to the other group on the opposite corner... they waved back.
Then it happened. A moment that I will NEVER forget and which literally gave me goosebumps.
I heard the simultaneous SHLIIIIIK, FLIP-FLOG-CLUK of 50 umbrellas all around me opening up at the same time. i looked up and sure enough, my umbrella was wide open in its glory. I was too far back in the crowd to have seen the crosswalk signal change, but it didn't matter... we were now officially mobbing and i just had to follow the flock.
i could barely see across the street, but I did make out the other half of the mob crossing the street vaguely, like gigantic rainbow bats, swarming out of their street corner cave.
and we just skipped and bounced across the street singing "Just a spoonful of sugar." People around me were smiling and laughing and commenting on how WEIRD this was.
Then just as suddenly, we reached the other side, closed up our umbrellas and remained fairly silent. Almost immediately, the crosswalk opened up again and we danced our way across. That was a little surprising, I didn't realize how quickly the light would change.
I was also surprised at how smoothly the two halves of the mob stayed together (i.e. I was expecting that we would break off into four mini-mobs since I assumed people would be out of synch)...
We did two full revolutions. i was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures until the last time we crossed the street, and even then, I just stuck my camera up in the air and pressed the trigger with reckless abandon.
Then, as quickly as we flashed, we scattered. and the event was over.
I giggled all the way home, despite the blinding rain up north.
The rain, or threat of rain, was good. i think it probably kept the mob to a reasonably healthy size. I think everyone was worried (I certainly was) that us holding umbrellas wouldn't be all that unusual in this weather. We were wrong... It DEFINITELY was strange...
...and beautiful.
I guess that's because people are strange... and they can be beautiful when they try.
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I had been a pretty vocal member of the group since day one... so there's been a misconception that I somehow organized the event. No. There is no such thing as a flashmob organizer... only instigators and facillitators.
Did I scream about the event to everyone I knew? Yep. Did I pitch in to do a little bit of logistics work to pull it off? A little. Did I relay messages for people that wanted to be anonymous. Sure.
But the event belongs to everyone, no one person or small group of people can claim credit. A mob of one is just a raving lunatic...
Then again, a group of raving lunatics is a flashmob. We should all be proud of ourselves for pulling it off. Lunatics unite!
We had fun. Let's do it again. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with next.
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Here is a link to pictures (some are a little blurry, but that's ok... that's what this experience felt like to me...): url=http://gallery.davidnunez.com/fmoba1http://gallery.davidnunez.com/fmoba1/url
