I have posted on flash mobs here at Fire Critic before. Typically my point has been how interesting I think they are and how building construction might not be designed to hold so many people at once. This post has nothing to do with firefighting…
This one is different. This flash mob occurs at the Beirut International Airport and seems as though it is sanctioned by the airport (although I am not certain).
What I do know is that in America, the airport would have been shut down for something like this. American air travel is so locked down, people are scared to sneeze in airports. That is the wonderful outcome of living in a world of terrorism…Not that traveling in Beirut is safer, maybe just a little more laid back!
Ok, I admit that I have tried to stay anonymous on this blog. The reason being not what is said by who but moreso I don’t want “who says it” to cloud “what is said”. Even though The Fire Critic is semi-anonymous, I have had a few people guess it was me and others I have told out of professionalism in keeping an open line of communication. I don’t really have anything to hide and those who know me would say that I say what I feel.
That being said, I am not outing myself in this post. I may in the near future though. I had plans to out myself when a future collaboration happened…hopefully soon.
Either way, I was interviewed by a newspaper reporter in a large City within 5 hours of where I live. The reason why he interviewed me was on comments made on the post about flash mobs. I basically gave him answers long the lines of what I put in the post…That I liked the visual aspect of watching the performances, but that I had concerns on where the flash mobs might take place and by how many people.
The interesting thing is that he called me on the land line of my part time job. That peeked my interest as to how he got my phone number. I later found out that he had called the station I worked at. I don’t use my work number as a contact. I am not sure why the reporter didn’t just email me, but he apparently was able to find out who I was really quick. Therefore, my identity as being anonymous apparently isn’t all that hidden. It isn’t a huge surprise, but I was interested in the fact that he found me so damn quick. Apparently I completely suck at being anonymous.
Once I find the article, which should post late tonight or tomorrow, I might properly out myself. Unless he completely butchers what I said and uses it out of context like reporters are known to do. Either way, my name is tied to it.
Wikipedia defines it as a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via social media or viral emails. (link)
That being said, the first one I ever watched was exhibited inside the library at UVA. UNC did one during finals week as well inside the undergraduate library. The flashmobs can be all sorts of things. The UVA and UNC gigs (videos below) were flashmob raves. Basically they get hundreds to thousands of people to meet at a certain place and dance to loud music for a short period, then turn it off and leave quickly as if nothing happened. Other flashmobs have the participants freeze in place all at once for a set period of time and then unfreeze all at once. Non-participants walk around wondering what the hell is going on. Needless to say they are pretty cool to watch.
Flashmobs seem to be coordinated and orderly (as much as possible), however there are certain considerations for our line of work. I see the risk of too many people standing, jumping, or dancing in certain buildings all at once. Buildings which are rated for certain occupancies could see catastrophic failure if inundated with hundreds or thousands of people at once. Also, as seen in a couple of the videos, crowds running through the streets could pose an issue while responding. And of course there is the issue of people getting injured or trampled. I am sure there are other considerations that I haven’t thought of as well. Hopefully, organizers will take these into consideration.
The reason for this post is because today I was checking out some websites and watched a flashmob of a tribute to Michael Jackson. I thought they were pretty neat to watch. I have attached some of the videos below. For others, check out Flash Mob Videos or this link of 24 flashmob videos. Many of the videos are a part of Improv Everywhere, check out their site.
On July 8th, a flashmob was created twice in Stockholm as a tribute to Michael Jackson.
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