Wednesday was Weird

As I was riding my bike up to work a bit before 9 AM, I hear music. No surprise, as there's construction at one of the surrounding buildings and it's not uncommon for the workers to have a radio on hand. I realize quickly that the song is Crown of Love by Arcade Fire, which seems an odd choice, but hey, maybe they're getting in touch with their liberal arts university surroundings. Drawing closer, I see a group of 15 or so college-age people gathered around the bike racks, and as I watch, I realize they seem to be dancing. Interpretive dancing.

Of course, I think to myself. Hipsters. It all makes sense now.

I lock up my bike with these people silently dancing all around me. Some pantomime bike riding, some swing around on the racks, others just waltz around. Not a word is spoken. As the song hits the driving tempo of the climax, they all spontaneously merge into a single moshing mass and silently dance off in another direction.

I really don't know what that was all about. The only things I can think of are a flash mob, which seems unlikely given the time of day, or a dance class, which seems unlikely given the fact that it's the middle of the summer. All I can be sure of is that when I walked through the doors of the library, I looked behind me and gave a little shudder. When I turn around, the guy sitting at the front desk is looking back at me and laughing. And while I have a history of hating hipsters, I have to admit it made my morning a bit more entertaining.

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Later that night, I went to the improv comedy theater Second City with my roommate and his friend. In the bathroom stall, I noticed some unconventional graffiti. I didn't have my camera with me, but scratched into the door were these words, seemingly from 3 different people:

first post!
xkcd.com
DNE

Meta.

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Riding back on the El, I couldn't help but notice two guys in matching red berets and white t-shirts walking from one end of the train to the other. They look a little ridiculous, if not the strangest thing I've seen late at night in Chicago, but they don't seem to be doing anything nefarious. Their shirts say "Guardian Angels" on the back, so I google it when I get home.

Turns out they're a sort of volunteer police force founded in New York City back in the 70s. They patrol bad areas of cities, unarmed, and intervene if they see any violent crime. You can check out their official site and Wikipedia page if you want more info, but they honestly seem to be legit, and they're partially credited with the significant reduction of NYC crime in the past few decades. Sure, you probably already know all of this stuff, as I seem to be about 30 years late to the party. I thought it was a little weird that I never noticed them before, but I can't complain that they're out there. They get the Bob Seal of Batman-esque Approval.