"Somebody Stop That Fruit!"

Two weeks ago I sat in Hokie Grill* and recorded (Facebook required for now) people frozen in place. Whether they were eating a chicken nugget or taking a sip of water or searching inside a backpack for something or gazing off into nothing. Hell, one guy was paying for his food.

Now before you start yelling at me that it's already been done, let me talk. There's a little group that started with that event called the VT Flash Mob. Well, not so little anymore. A flash mob is simply a group of people that appear somewhere without announcement and perform some sort of prank or event. And yes, I keep linking Improv Everywhere as they are the first group I had heard of. But there are groups starting up in universities around the country and Tech is no exception.

I went to their first event--conveniently announced on Facebook--and enjoyed it thoroughly. This is exactly the sort of thing I would love to do every once in a while, just to mix things up. Bring something different to life. Most of the time people have no idea what's going on and look absolutely confused, yet another plus!

Luckily for me, not only did I get to witness their first act (from "behind the scenes"), but I was also, quite unknowingly, a member of their next audience. Walking back from my Intermediate Mechanics class**, crossing the drillfield, on my way to get some food, I happened to spy a person laying on the ground. This didn't look good but as I approached my attention was promptly stolen. Enter man in a banana suit (again, Facebook). My train of thought: there were many people on the ground, as if passed out -> this can't be an accident -> banana! And it was very much planned.

I both loved it--I got to hear "somebody stop that fruit!" shouted about ten feet from me--and was disappointed that I had not known beforehand. So I expediently hopped online, found my way into the group and into contact with its "leader." I just hope next time I can get in on the meetings (though I'll settle for prior knowledge of future events).

Hmm, well now I must be off to finish preparing for my speech tomorrow. I'll make sure to think up as many creative complaints of that class as I can in the meantime.


* One of our local eateries, aka dining halls.
** Agh, it's as difficult as using a straw, a paper clip, and silly putty to survive a hundred foot drop..while wearing a straight jacket and blindfolded. I'd have to be a mix of MacGyver and David Blaine.