(토요모임) [22nd, February. 2019]Saturday meeting topic (ing)

[리사홍]

The No Pants Subway Ride

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The No Pants Subway Ride is an annual event staged by Improv Everywhere

The idea behind No Pants is simple: Random passengers board a subway car at separate stops in the middle of winter without pants. The participants behave as if they do not know each other, and they all wear winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. The only unusual thing is their lack of pants.

Here’s a video telling the story of the very first No Pants Subway Ride:

Below is an overview of the history of The No Pants Subway Ride dating back to its inception in 2002.

No Pants Subway Ride 2020

January 12, 2020. Ridiculously warm 65 degrees in NYC. Notably new global rides included Tokyo and Saint Petersburg.

No Pants Subway Ride 2019

January 13, 2019. 32 degree weather and lots of fun! 18th Annual!

No Pants Subway Ride 2018

January 7, 2018. Another cold one!

No Pants Subway Ride 2017

The 16th Annual No Pants Subway Ride took place on January 8, 2017 in cities around the world. In NYC it fell the day after a snowstorm and featured single digit wind chills. Brrr!

No Pants Subway Ride 2016

The 15th Annual No Pants Subway Ride took place on January 10, 2016. It was rainy and unusually warm in NYC. Riders participated all over the world from Tokyo to Jerusalem. The Moscow ride drew attention from local police who called in the organizer for questioning a few days later. He was released without charges.

No Pants Subway Ride 2015

The 14th Annual No Pants Subway Ride took place on January 11, 2015 and once again happened all over the world. Officials tried to ban it in Latvia, but relented once the media got a hold of the story.

No Pants Subway Ride 2014

The 13th Annual No Pants Subway Ride took place on January 12, 2014 in over 60 cities in over 25 countries around the world and included tens of thousands of participants.

No Pants Subway Ride 2013

For the twelfth annual No Pants Subway Ride, over 4,000 people participated in New York with tens of thousands more participating in 60 cities all over the world, including debut rides in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

No Pants Subway Ride 2012

For the eleventh annual No Pants Subway Ride, nearly 4,000 people participated in New York with tens of thousands more participating in 59 cities in 27 countries around the world, including a ride in Istanbul where the riders were arrested!

No Pants Subway Ride 2011

For the tenth annual No Pants Subway Ride, 3,500 people participated in New York and thousands more in 48 cities across the globe.

No Pants Subway Ride 2010

For the ninth annual No Pants ride, over 5,000 people took off their pants on subways in 44 cities around the world. In New York, we had over 3,000 participants, spread out over six meeting points and ten subway lines.

No Pants Subway Ride 2009

The eighth annual No Pants ride had 1,200 participants in New York and well over 1,000 more in 21 other cities across the globe. The New York ride took place during a snow storm (a first) and was carried out on four train lines.

No Pants Subway Ride 2008

The seventh annual No Pants ride had 900 participants in New York and was the first year to go international, with 9 cities joining the fun. In New York we had to use three separate train lines to accommodate the crowd. For the first time there were at least as many women as men. This was the first year we invited other cities to participate as well. Rides took place in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Toronto, Washington DC, and even Adelaide, Australia. The Today show even mentioned the event: video

No Pants Subway Ride 2007

In sharp contrast to the year before (see below), the sixth annual No Pants went off without a hitch. 300 people participated on what was a particularly mild January day. Three police officers showed up at our meeting point, but they informed us they were only there to make sure everyone had a good time. We dropped the “pants seller” bit this year after too many people lost their pants in 2006. Instead, participants hid their pants in a backpack. This was the first year No Pants really started becoming diverse, with people of all colors, shapes, sizes, and ages participating.

No Pants Subway Ride 2006

The fifth annual No Pants ride was abruptly halted by a cop. All passengers, including those not participating, were forced to exit the train as it was taken out of service. 8 people were handcuffed in their underwear and taken into custody. A month later a judge dismissed all of the charges. It is not illegal to wear your underwear in public in New York City. Just ask the Naked Cowboy. The incident was reported by news agencies around the world. David Letterman made two monologue jokes, about it and staged a No Pants Cab Ride as a parody. Keith Olbermann interviewed Agent Todd about the legality of No Pants. Around 150 people participated in the ride.

No Pants Subway Ride 2005

The fourth No Pants was filmed by This American Life for their Showtime television show. The segment on Improv Everywhere aired as part of their pilot episode, but almost all of the No Pants footage was cut from the piece. We didn’t film it ourselves, so no video exists. Around 50 people participated.

No Pants Subway Ride 2004

The third No Pants was filmed by ABC News 20/20 for a segment they were doing on Improv Everywhere which never aired. Bill Ritter, a 20/20 correspondent, rode the train with us but elected to keep his pants on. About 40 people participated. We did not film it ourselves.

No Pants Subway Ride 2003

The second No Pants had around 30 participants, including a few women. A few people played characters for the first time– businessmen, tourists, etc. The conductor noticed what was going on and shouted over the PA, “This train is not a playground.” There is video footage, but it has never been put online. Maybe one day.

No Pants Subway Ride 2002

The first ride included 7 participants, all male. One participant entered the train pantless for 7 consecutive stops. They pretended not to notice each other, and if asked claimed that they “just forgot” their pants. On the 8th stop, someone came through with a duffle bag selling pants for $1. No photographs were taken, but the above video was captured with our single a hidden camera.

KLM “Apologizes” To Korean People For Flight Attendants,

But…

Matthew February 14, 2020 11 Comments

In case you’ve missed it, KLM has been in the limelight this week for a handwritten note on a napkin that designated a lavatory for use only by the crew.

But here’s the twist: this happened on a flight from Amsterdam to Seoul and the note was

only written in Korean.

When confronted, the crew defended its actions on the basis of coronavirus concerns and claimed it meant to write the note in English as well.

Let’s Deal With The R-Word First…

Check out the comments over at One Mile at a Time

The crew claims that it meant to post the sign in English as well and just forgot. But a crew member also demanded the Korean passenger who brought the matter to his attention delete the picture above. You can watch what happened here

I wasn’t there. I also don’t know the genuine intention of the crew members. I’ve flown KLM many times and always encountered excellent crews.

But here’s what I will say: imagine if this had been a Korean Air flight to Seoul and the note was only written in English. Imagine if this had been an Air France flight from Frankfurt to Paris and the note was only written in German. Imagine if this was a Delta flight to Sao Paulo and the

note was only written in Portuguese.

I’d feel singled-out and hurt. Call me a snowflake if you will…but I do empathize with the Korean passenger, especially as people continue to link the coronavirus to “Asia” (as if it is one homogenous place).

That said, I’m not excusing his unreasonable demands in response to the sign (again, watch the video

 

KLM Offers An Apology, Sort Of

With outrage growing and major South Korean media outlets running with the story, KLM staged a press conference at the Four Seasons hotel today to offer a formal apology. That included bowing to the audience, a sign of respect

Guillaume Glass, KLM’s General Manager of Japan-Korea-New Caledonia, spoke to the press. Here are some quotes:

“We would like to express our sincere apologies to all passengers who were offended by the operation and the announcements of the crew on the lavatories.

…

“This is a human mistake, but we don’t take it lightly, and again we apologize for it.

“We take the allegations that we have discriminated against a part of our customers very seriously. We are deeply sorry that this was viewed as discrimination, which was absolutely not the intention of the crew.

“The issue is under investigation internally. To prevent this from happening again, our executive vice president for inflight services, will take all necessary measures.

“The members of that particular crew will talk with inflight senior management when they will arrive in Amsterdam.

“In addition, we have reminded yesterday to all KLM crew worldwide that it is not allowed to reserve lavatories for the sole usage of the crew, and we will remind this at every crew briefing prior to the flights departing or arriving in Seoul.

“We would like to take the opportunity to apologize to the passengers who have been inconvenienced onboard this KLM aircraft, and to the people of the Republic of Korea, who have been offended by the incident.”

Note that despite the great optics, this really comes down to a “sorry if you were offended” non-apology. KLM defended its crew, claiming there was no ill intentions. It also made clear that lavatories can no longer be reserved exclusively for crew member use.

CONCLUSION

This issue will blow over, but the damage is done…even if no harm was intended in the first place. It’s a reminder that our actions, even if unintended, can have very serious consequences.

Do you view KLM’s apology as sincere?

[Scarlet]

From this week, we will skip the Englisholic regular meetings on both the Thursday and the Saturday for several weeks.

Due to the contagious disease, we have decided not to have Englisholic meetings temporarily. Please understand this situation. It is an unavoidable decision for your safety.

Please Be extra careful about your personal hygiene. And Be healthy !

We will make a notice
when we restart the meeting 🙂

Thank you !
Scarlett :)