Close to the Edge: Near Death on the Orange Line
Sports Redux: C's Shot Down
Max Goes to Longwood: Wild Things on the Subway
Saturday Happenings
Sunday Happenings
No better icebreaker exists than taking off your pants in a crowd. People who normally would never speak to each other on an MBTA train had plenty to talk about once they "depantsed" on Saturday afternoon for Boston's first annual No Pants 2K8.
At first, when aspiring pants-free T riders gathered at Alewife station, the event was at risk of being a bust. The area between the gates and the stairs was packed with people, but media appeared to outnumber the soon-to-be pantsless riders. News reporters were grabbing No Pants 2K8 participants and asking, "Are you really going to go through with it?"
Eventually, the number of participants outnumbered the media by a good amount, and the organizer introduced the crowd to four team leaders. The plan was simple--each group would divide into four groups and follow a team leader onto a car at Alewife. While riding, the group would "depants" at Davis. Our particular group would then hop off at Central and wait for another train to maximize pantsless exposure. MBTA police discreetly escorted the riders at all stages.
The "depantsing" moment was the most fun part of the ride because people dressed up for the occasion. A few riders went with what they would have worn every day, but others showed off flashy boxers. One guy wore a suit on his top half and Incredible Hulk boxers on his bottom half. Animal themes were popular--rubber duckies, Christmas bears, teddy bears, and penguins. A few people were more daring and went with briefs or boyshorts. And, for the record, many women were along for the ride.
No one looked especially surprised, but some people who kept their pants on loved watching the exhibitionists (yes, this Bostonist took off the pants--traditional media did not). One woman had pictures of herself taken with pantsless riders and triumphantly shouted, "I'm putting this on my match.com page!" Another young woman sitting across from pantsless riders who hadn't heard about the event decided that she was going to take her pants off. And, right there, at Porter, she decided to join in--at least as far as she could go on the trip.
A pantsless rider at Park Street. The depantsing begins. An MBTA employee enjoying herself. Penguin boxers. Photos by Caroline Roberts.
The only downside of the pantsless voyage was that there may have been too many pantsless people in one place. The shock of seeing someone pantsless becomes diluted if you see too many people pantsless. Bostonist's group leader agreed. He looked at a sea of pantsless people at the Central Square stop and admitted that maybe the event was overpublicized (Bostonist apologizes--we couldn't resist).
As pantsless people swarmed Central Square, MBTA employees seemed to be having a good time. For the very first time, Bostonist saw an MBTA employee smile. Her smile was a ray of sunshine, and it may have been more shocking than the sight of so many bare legs in one place. The employee tried to maintain order by shouting, "STAY BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE!" But then she would crack right up again.
All participants then switched to the Green Line and took various lines to Kenmore and back. We had been instructed to act like we didn't know each other, but it was hard not to chat with pantsless peers. People compared boxer shorts and talked about reading material, while bolder people started a Conga Line down by the Green Line Platform for Boston College.
At Kenmore, the riders switched from one side to the other, and pantsless people had to mingle closely with the pants while walking through the narrow space connecting the two platforms. One young woman saw the pantsless perpetrators and shrieked, "I'm not looking! I'm not looking!" But she had to look--who could ignore the crowds of bare-legged people acting like everything was normal?
Maybe it had been overhyped, but the ride was fun, and Boston could use more events like these.
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i expected more pictures of the pantslessness! still, sounds like fun. what about a no shirt day? doesn't have quite the same ring to it, sadly...