 It is the second year in a row that over 300 "partici-pants" were willing to ride without slacks in Toronto, Ont. (Pictured, L-R) Dan Goulet, Victoria Mothersill and Janette Speare nonchalantly read books on the St. Patrick subway platform. (QMI/Jack Boland)
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TORONTO -- If you’ve ever wondered if your friend wore boxers or briefs, yesterday’s No Pants Subway Ride was a good way to put that question to rest.
Around 300 bold — mostly young but all young at heart — individuals braved the below zero temperatures to ride the Red Rocket in nothing but their best or funniest underpants.
They weren’t alone.
Riders around the world, about 16 countries in all, dropped their pants for a few hours en masse to have a little fun, give people a laugh and spice up the otherwise buttoned-down world of mass transit.
Participants in the third annual Improv Toronto event started out fully clothed but dropped to just their drawers after boarding the subway inside the Museum station.
After that, it was every urban adventurer’s dream or everyone else’s worst nightmare — a pants-free ride through the city’s transit system.
With their pants safely tucked away in backpacks and bags they proceeded to jump off the train in packs and then board the next train, all the while acting like everything was normal even when perplexed riders asked them what was going on.
“It was a lot of fun,” said an anonymous first-timer who was wearing polka dot undershorts and cowboy boots. “I had to get some decent shorts for today because I was not going in my pinky underwear.”
While some wore their usual briefs, others went that extra mile accenting their legs by wearing fancy footwear or more formal attire everywhere but below the belt.
One man, wearing a suit jacket and tie, even brought a hanger to hang his pants from the overhead handrail.
“It keeps them from getting wrinkled,” he said.
Most riders who still had their pants on took the ride in stride.
Linda, who wouldn’t give her last name, said she was impressed when the pantless throng walked onto her subway car.
“It’s great fun,” she said. “It made me laugh when they came on ... they must be freezing but it’s really fun.”
don.peat@sunmedia.ca
