I can see both sides of this. In general I think anyone who “hates” flash mobs needs to lighten up. It’s a little disheartening to see that people I respect would look down on how I wore a prom dress to the beach or had a glow stick fight in Battery Park (with hundreds of other people).
I can also see how a big group of people getting together to do somethin’ wacky for attention seems obnoxious. And anyone who trades on cynicism for laughs (which is most people) cannot possibly condone it. I spend a large chunk of the year working at an office in Times Square. Traipsing through Times Square is exactly the kind of thing I would wish on my worst enemy (just a precursor to the pain dungeon). A few months ago I was making my way through that hell hole and I could just tell from the energy in the air that a flash mob was about to bust out with a choreographed dance. And they did. I was right in the center of it and I just rolled my eyes and thought, “Ew, get away from me.” (Because Times Square is that awful.) Unless you’re doing something really creative (which Improv Everywhere continues to do) it’s like, OK, we get it. (But also, that was a real display of grumpy sour lemon pants on my part.)
If people can be pissy about flash mobs— here’s something even more deserving that I’m pissy about (a grumpy sour lemon pants report)— train performers. I saw this video on The Daily What about an impromptu jam session between an ukulele performer and a drummer. Unless you brought your own hula dancers, absolutely no one wants to hear you play your ukulele—not ever. No matter how talented you are, train performances are not fun and charming. They are an act of hostility. The performance is being forced on you. And I hate them all. Even the adorable breakdancers. You know how there’ll be like a 14-yr-old and a 7-yr-old. And first the 14-yr-old does some impressive dancing, then the tiny one starts dancing and you’re like “OMG tiny breakdancer!” But I still can’t wait for them to stop. And when I see tourists being delighted I think, “Stop being delighted. This is awful.” It would be 50% less bad if they weren’t trying to guilt you into giving them money. Wouldn’t it be funny if an artist brought a painting on the train and showed it to everyone and then asked for money?
Also, people who live in Los Angeles, California really have no business complaining about flash mobs.
In regards to that impromptu session on the subway that’s blowing up all over the place. If that happened on my train ride, I would be the person ignoring it and pretending that it didn’t happen. It’s rude to the people riding the train to have to listen to your music. We can’t escape, in a city that is so jam packed, sometimes the only we can have personal space is with a quiet commute home, don’t be disrespectful after I’ve had to deal with nonsense all day.
