Thursday, November 13th, 2008

What happens to modesty on Halloween? (Media credit: Costume Alibi/Amazon.com)

by Michael McGurk

This past Halloween, something beautiful and brutal, something ugly and magical happened. It was the kind of magic when drunken bike punk meets drunken frat guy, the kind of magic that only happens on Halloween. Hopefully, it’s the kind of thing that most people will just shrug off. But after that night, it may take a few days for some students of Drexel University to heal their dignity.

It started innocently enough — guessing people’s costumes in front of California Pizza. But soon enough, the costume guessing turned into costume bashing. Next came the character insults. It was all in good fun though. The dirtiest, most basic kind of fun one can have. It was the faceless mob game.

At some point earlier in the night, I ended up at a friend’s house next to California Pizza. It was normal for a while, everyone hanging out on the porch or in the basement. Someone had the idea to start throwing out insults at passers-by, and everyone inside of the house came outside to join. Who’d want to miss that kind of fun?

The insults grew more personal. By the time the fifth or sixth female bumblebee walked by, clutching her tough-guy boyfriend’s arm, the blood was already in the streets, figuratively. When you have your skirt hiked up to your butt cheeks, wearing only a bikini, trying to pass as something “cute,” it just doesn’t make you look very classy.  Do you expect to retain any sense of dignity after deliberately mooning a faceless mob that just insulted you for being dressed so skimpily?

I prayed that no one I knew would walk down Powelton Avenue that night, for their own sake.

Lesson 1: Even on Halloween, take pride in your appearance, it’s the only thing strangers have to judge you. Continue Reading »

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann took time on his show Nov. 10 to address the passage of California’s Proposition 8. Whatever your stance on the issue, it’s worth the time to watch.

Also, to anyone interested in demonstrating against Prop. 8 and other anti-marriage legislation, there is a protest going on this Saturday from 1:30-4:30 near LOVE park/City Hall.