This is a country that prides itself on keeping traditions. Last weekend Americans grilled hot dogs, launched fireworks, and blasted Bruce Springsteen to celebrate the anniversary of our nation gaining the freedom to declare its own holidays, among other things. This weekend, anyone passing through Laguna Beach can witness a tradition that does not even remotely rival the Fourth of July, either in scope or importance.
The occasion is the 29th annual Mooning of Amtrak, and its purpose is to pay much-deserved homage to three staples of American culture: alcohol, partial nudity, and idiotic stunts. It all started when a man named K.T. Smith became stupidly drunk one night at the Mugs Away Saloon. On this particular evening, Smith seemed desperately in need of entertainment, and he told his drinking buddies that he would buy drinks for anyone willing to moon the train that was about to pass by on the rail just beside the saloon. A number of his buddies obliged, and a great new American tradition was birthed.
These days the crowd is a little different, but the spirit remains the same. The Mooning of Amtrak occasion is not sponsored by or associated with any person or organization, although a website has been created to guide prospective mooners in the right direction (visit moonamtrak.org). Despite its unofficial nature, the event has grown steadily in popularity, with crowds of people showing up on the second Saturday of every July. From the early morning to the lantern-lit night, the chain-link fence that lines the track is contaminated by exposed buttocks.
Though the idea doesn’t seem to have spread to any other railroads, but the original has become popular enough that the trains that day are packed with people hoping to photograph the rear ends of people they’ve never met. It’s popular enough that vendors set up near the fence to sell food and souvenirs to the participants. It’s even popular enough that the sheriff on hand is there to protect the people committing indecent exposure rather than to arrest them.
If you can make the journey, the Mooning of Amtrak is a strong candidate to be the most memorable experience you never need to have. If not, at least take away this lesson: be careful the next time you decide to drink, because whatever you do just might be immortalized by strangers for decades.
Photo courtesy of MoonAmtrak.org
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1 Local News: The Right to a BARE Ass | LA.CityZine.com - Los Angeles // Jul 15, 2008 at 8:01 am
[...] year a bunch of people get together to celebrate an odd tradition, the Amtrack mooning tradition. The event entails a bunch of people showing up on the first Saturday of July and mooning the [...]
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