The life of a modern person catastrophically lacks originality. School, university, work, career, family, children, movies, drinking, resorts, pension. Despite the fact that the world is extremely diverse and interesting, the vast majority of the population leads the standard life of a standard office clerk. Repeating the same path from work to home day after day, it is not so easy to find anything that can raise the adrenaline level in your blood. Flash mob ("sudden crush") is a street show that disrupts the ordinary flow of life, where any, even the most unnoticeable person can play their small role. In the crowd, they can easily do something unusual, something they would never dare to do alone, and no one will call them "Crazy!" People are simply going crazy from boredom, quietly entertaining themselves, shocking those who have not yet joined the flash mob.
An additional flavor of forbiddenness to these "actions" is given by the secrecy that surrounds the organization of such street shows. Their participants meet each other for the first and, possibly, last time in their lives only just before the flash mob begins. All preparation for the action is carried out over the Internet by an anonymous leader. A participant must register on a special website, choose an action they intend to join, and wait for an email that will tell them the place and time of the meeting.
Flash mobs appeared literally a month ago in the USA. One of the first successful crushes took place in a store: about a hundred people showed up there and began to scrutinize one of the carpets. Surprised salespeople tried to approach the visitors with the standard "How can I help you?", but in response they heard an incredible tale that all those who came were members of some commune choosing a "carpet of love" for themselves. After such an explanation, the store employees naturally fell into a stupor, and the self-satisfied crowd of flash mobbers went on its way.
This new fashion quickly spread to Europe. The first "Old World" crushes began gathering in Italy, Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands. As a rule, the actions are not particularly original: if you order a never-published edition in a bookstore, you are simply making a mistake. Much more fun is to go there in the company of another three hundred slackers and, in a single impulse, torment the salesperson with this question. In Berlin, several dozen flash mobbers simultaneously took out their mobile phones on the street and began loudly repeating into the receivers: "Yes, yes, yes." In London, a crowd burst into a furniture store and began conspicuously loudly praising one of the sofas. There are, however, unusual actions as well: during one of the actions in Central Park in Manhattan, flash mob participants sat on stones and tried to imitate bird trills.
Apparently, soon these actions will from time to time diversify the leisure of bored city dwellers in all European countries. This is indeed a harmless and sometimes fun pastime that usually does not lead to conflicts. Onlookers lucky enough to observe a flash mob in action are only glad - a free show, and the police usually have no particular complaints either. Sellers and shopkeepers are not greatly upset by such shows (goods are not damaged, and it is some kind of PR for the establishment). Moreover, some advertising managers may seize on the flash mob - what better new promotion strategy for a retail outlet?! However, there is a danger that flash mobs will be used for political purposes: it is hard to imagine a better means of organizing a small picket or demonstration. For example, in Los Angeles today, some opponents of the American president intend to hold an anti-Bush action: participants attach portraits of the White House owner to their faces and chant "I am a liar and a deceiver." For a similar reason, the fate of the new Western fashion here is still unclear. After all, from the point of view of our militia, any such act falls under the concept of "unsanctioned rally." As a result, domestic pioneers of the flash mob run a great risk of getting too much adrenaline after being hit on the head with a truncheon.