A 'flash mob' event at the Harvard University COOP store in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)
Flash Mobbing Story aired: Monday, August 11, 2003
On a typical balmy summer night in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts the cafes are crowded, iced teas are sipped, and street performers juggle while musicians jam. Big book stores such as the Harvard Coop fill up as hundreds leaf through the latest literature or pick up a classic. Others might be picking out a suitably subtle or witty birthday card.
Then from the card section a voice is heard: "I'm looking for a card for my friend Bill from New York." Cheering erupts.
It is a new fad that, in one form or another, has sounded-off in cities across the globe. Flash mobs have become the new pastime of the avante-garde cutting edge, or maybe just bored trend addicts.
A flash mob springs to life when an email or web site declares that a specific place will be the site of a strange, meaningless public happening for just a brief time. After the short event occurs the mob breaks up, leaving observers entirely mystified.
The mob in Harvard Square organized about 200 people to meet in the bookstore simply for the purpose of asking store clerks to help find a card for a man named Bill from New York. After the small act was finished the crowd erupted in applause.
In other cities, flash mobs have convened to do everything from making bird sounds to asking a Macy's salesperson for help finding a "love rug."
