San Francisco Valentine's Day Pillowfight

So, the bad news is that I had to fly on a business trip into a famously romantic city on Valentine's Day. I wouldn't necessarily have had a date had I been elsewhere but at least I'd be in familiar territory. I swear I have never seen so many people walking around with roses - single and bouquets - in my life.

The good news is that I have become proficient at figuring out what there is to do in cities where there are things to do (i.e., not Atlanta) and carless ways to get to these things (i.e., not Atlanta). Thanks to flavorpill.net (& thanks to Stevie for alerting me to it), I had tips on some of the top events today in SF, which most notably included a flashmob pillowfight (which was also posted repeatedly on the local craigslist events page). Unfortunately, I had no pillow to bring because I think my hotel would frown on my appropriating one of theirs for such a purpose, so I was resigned to being just a spectator. It was funny watching people approach the plaza with their pillows. Some people tried to be covert and inconspicuous - "I'm just shopping, I don't have a pillow." But unless you are willing to pretend that you are pregnant or overweight, there doesn't seem to be a good way to hide a pillow. So most people were just walking down the streets with floppy bed pillows (one woman was carrying a blankie too).

I got a good view of the crowd from a distance, up on a staircase, and filmed the start of the action (video posted on YouTube here and below). The fight was supposed to start at 6pm but people couldn't contain themselves and began a couple minutes early. I wanted to get a closer look, so I abandoned my perch for a picnic table. After a few minutes a couple joined me on it and the woman said something about not being able to take more than a few minutes of pillowfighting. I broke into the conversation and said something like, the important thing is to participate and that if I had a pillow, I would try it. She then offered me one of hers. At first I refused because chances were that she would never get it back. But then I realized that she probably realized that and didn't care (hers were little sofa pillows), so I thanked her, took the larger, softer seeming pillow, and found a spot to enter the crowd.

I started off assuming that the place to hit people in a pillowfight was over the head. However, I rapidly realized that that was really annoying and not much fun when one was on the receiving end, so I switched to body blows. I waded through the crowd for a few minutes usually being hit from behind or the side and likewise mostly applying blows to those who were not facing me. Sometimes I would pass someone and we would exchange blows along the way but it was a surprisingly anonymous interaction overall. I had put my electronics in zippered pockets but I began to fear for my glasses which I had left on my nose. Also the headwhacks were darned uncomfortable, so I had my fill of pillowfighting rather quickly. People at the edges of the crowd seemed to be the most enthusiastic swatters, probably because they were freshly entering the battle, so exiting was a bit trying. Soon I was out though and even able to return the pillow to its generous owner.

I had overheard someone say that the event typically lasts about 10-15 minutes, until people get tired. Although many spectators seemed to be former combatants by the time I left, the fighting still seemed to be going strong. Every so often a feather pillow burst open and it looked like the most local snowfall ever (or like a chicken just exploded).

I called a friend in NYC to share my Valentine's day adventure while I walked in the general direction of dinner (I hoped). For the next 8 blocks or so, I saw people running towards the plaza with pillows. There's something sad about being late to a pillowfight or flashmob in general. "I was going to hit strangers over the head with my pillow, but I was running late..."

So, I have to say that the pillowfight made my day even though both I and flashmobs are too old to make my participation in one turn me into a hipster. I feel that I have accomplished something besides travelling from one coast (well almost) to the other. [My language feels a bit stilted in this entry and I fear it is the effect of reading a long novel by George Eliot]