“Every week, we protest,” one of the organizers, Jon, said. “And every week, the paper says an angry mob descended on downtown.”
The Mayor of Southgate loved motorcycles. As a rider himself, he was able to unilaterally repeal all ordinances involving motorcycles. They were allowed to weave between lanes, skip to the front of stoplights and even ride on sidewalks.
Worse, he instructed his police force not to enforce traffic laws, such as speed limits or noise levels on motorcycles, even at night.
A group of concerned citizens decided to protest every Sunday, when they knew the mayor rode his bike. Led by Jon, they demonstrated outside of his house.
The local paper, The Gatelist, was personally funded by the mayor, so it only sought to portray him in a positive light. Their favorite topic was the protests.
The Monday after one of the protests, Jon went over to Megan’s house with the paper. He handed it to her. The headline read: Protest Turns into Mob, Terrorizes Farmer’s Market.
“The problem is that we look angry,” Megan said. “Look at this one of you buying bread at the farmer’s market. You look like you’re about to burn the market down.”
“It’s just bad lighting,” Jon said.
“But it’s working.”
“If only we could make it clear that we weren’t a mob. We need a spontaneous way to spread joy, while also protesting.”
Meagan saw an opportunity. “Well, we could wear bright costumes and maybe dance.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What if instead of being a mob, we were a flash mob?”
Jon loved the idea. The group spent two weeks rehearsing. On the day of the protest, they wore their regular clothes. Then at 1:16 PM, they all suddenly tore them off to feature brightly-colored dance clothes and danced to Stevie Wonder’s, We Can Work It Out.
The next morning, Jon showed up at Megan’s house with the paper headline: Protestors Turn into Flash Mob Downtown.
The picture showed Jon and others dancing, “But Jon, you still look angry.”
“New idea,” Jon said. “We dress like superheroes, and I’ll wear a mask.”