Pants Off, Hijabs On.

     Charles Dickens may have written, Tale of Two Cities, but this is a Tale of Two Marches. Both in the same town, Dallas, but both at opposite ends of the spectrum for sure. As always, please remain seated until the ride comes to a complete stop, keep your hand inside the car until the ride is over and please, if your reading this out loud to a young child and we lose air pressure, put your mask on first and THEN help the poor child with their mask. OK?
     Being determined to log over 25 miles on my hiking boots while I spend 1 day in Dallas was a rock solid way to insure I'd see some cool stuff. One of the many highlights of my day was stumbling upon a small crowd gathered at the fountain at Ferris Plaza. ( upon completion of this story you will know the fountain was named after the patron saint of silly fun, Ferris Buhler). The crowd of young people looked an awful lot like the crowd of people you usually see at one of my son's "punk" gigs. Curiosity got the better of me and I had to find out what they were up to.

As it turned out, they weren't there to put on a show, they were there to
Take Off Their Pants! Yep, they were getting ready to kick off the first ever Pants off Subway ride. ( I didn't have the heart to tell 'em, "it ain't a subway unless it goes under ground") But i just didn't want to spoil the mood. When asked why they were doing it, one of them said, "why not" and another said, "just because". How's that for investigative journalism? It wasn't long before they got instructions from their leader, and just like their pants, they were off.

Needless to say I covered the breaking story in true Dash Fashion. I figured I needed to blend in with the cause in order to get the inside scoop. As you can see by the reaction of my comrades, they welcomed me with open arms. Thinking of that cool day on the subway in Dallas, I can't help but to get a small chill. I so want to quote Neil Armstrong right now, I just shudder at using the word small so many times in one paragraph. I'll just take him out of context and say, "it was one giant leap for mankind". When it was all said and done, it was basically for no good reason.

     As I gathered my wits about me and headed onward, I began to hear what sounded like music or singing off in the distance; so I marched on. Allow me the opportunity to stop and focus on what I am currently wearing. It will be relevant to my next destination. I've got on my hiking boots, cause I'm logging miles. I now also am wearing a slightly wrinkled pair of jeans and most importantly, (this may come off somewhat narcissistic) I'm sporting a vintage Captain America t-shirt; big letters, big figure (Complete with shield)    BIG HERO!

I must have walked 10 city blocks, always trying to tune in to the music. It sounded oddly familiar. As the distance began to close, I began to notice things. Parked at each corner seemed to be S.U.V's, each one occupied by at least two police officers. Each time I passed one, I seemed to get a look from both occupants, peering over the top of their glasses and an ever so slight jaw drop, complete with gaping mouth. I've been on the receiving end before. As I processed the look I also processed the music I was hearing. When I approached the top of the slight incline, it all hit me at once. The music was the same stuff I had heard being blasted from the Muslim Mosques when I lived very close to Dearborn,Michigan. Before I knew it, I was smack dab in the middle of a Pakistani, Shiite parade.

There were hundreds of Shiites filling the streets. They waved giant flags, chanted in unison, pounded their chests and marched. The entire procession was as long as two and a half city blocks. They were carrying a coffin and lots of signs I couldn't read. The whole march was to bring awareness to injustice towards their people. It wasn't long before three young Pakistani girls, in full dress came over to me. They were quite nice and just wanted to know what I was thinking. Not the kind of, "what were you thinking" when I got caught dirty dancing on my teachers desk, in 7th grade, by Principal Moser. They genuinely wanted to know what they could help he understand. We talked a small bit about faith and that seemed to buy enough time for the whole parade to pass and me to use the opportunity for a quick escape.

I just enjoyed the irony of it all. Two marches going on at the same time, in the same town and each representing totally different ends of the spectrum.

God Bless America!