TAKE ME OUT TO THE (IMAGINARY) BALLGAME
So the Tampa flash mob at the Citrus Park Mall was better than anyone could have hoped for.
I couldn't go, but here's the eyewitness account from a friend:
It was totally awesome. You would've totally, totally loved it!!
At 5 mins. to 4, [the flash mob organizer] was sweating whether anyone was gonna show (we were in a store next to the statues and he kept going out to stand in the entrance - I had to drag him back). He asked me about a million times if I was sure you were coming -- I think he thought you might be the only one there. Then we saw people walking around with lawn chairs and at 4 p.m. they were bellying up to the platform (the statues are on a raised platform thing.)
A woman next to me had two little girls and they kept jumping up on the platform, and the mom kept telling them, "Get down! You're gonna get hit by a ball!'' The girls would get down and say, "There's no ball, Mom, what're you talking about?''
Then all of a sudden (like 4:02) there were a bunch of people gathered, clapping and yelling, and a power-crazed security guard showed up and started telling people to leave and move along. [The organizer] started "booing the ump,'' which of course pissed of the security guard, and next thing I know, [the organizer] is surrounded by security guards and sheriff's deputies. He was saying, (yelling, actually), "You can't take me out, I'm not a coach!!''
I just grabbed him and started pulling him away, but he wanted to go back, so I made him take off his ball cap and the baseball jersey he had on over his T-shirt and we went back. Now, there were twice as many people, and all of a sudden they started cheering real loud, (us too, of course), clapping, whistlng, etc.
The guards/cops were standing in a knot, arms folded over their chests, looking pissed-miffed. [The organizer's sister] heard one man say, "a guy like your age, normal looking'' arguing with a security guard. The guard said, "I'm just doing my job,'' and the man said, "but you're acting like an asshole'' and the guard said, "DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE RIGHT NOW? RIGHT NOW?'' And the man said, "No, I just came to watch a ball game!''
There were easily 100 people, quite possibly more. [The organizer knew about 20 (including [the organizer's sister], me and my sister -- a very uptight 47-year-old who couldn't resist.)
Of course Anna at Primal Purge has her own ideas of what constitutes a flash mob in Tampa.