No Pants Subway RideWhy stay at home cleaning when you could be out doing other things…including participating in the No Pants Subway Ride! On January 10th people in cities all over the world (including Portland and Seattle) will leave their pants at home when they head out for the day and take part in this wonderfully silly tradition.

How did something like this start? The first No Pants Subway Ride was in 2002. For seven consecutive stops, seven members of Improv Everywhere, the self-described “prank collective” in New York City, boarded the subway with no pants. One guy with no pants in New York City is nothing, but seven in a row?

Not everyone enjoys a good practical joke though. Riders with no pants have been taken into custody by the police in multiple cities, including New York City and Istanbul. The Latvian government tried to ban the No Pants Subway Ride, but was unsuccessful.

No Pants Subway Ride in Portland

The No Pants Subway Ride came to Portland in 2008. The instigator of the event here, Mary Allison Tadina, told Willamette Week she tried to get the city involved the year before, but it didn’t work out. Out of the fifteen that told her they were game to ride the MAX with no pants, only two made an appearance: “My little sister Elizabeth and her friend Evan showed up. We didn’t take off our pants. We went to breakfast at Denny’s instead.”

Despite embarrassment at the start, the Ride is now firmly established in our area. The Portland event has a Facebook page with details. So start planning now! Look at the itinerary, pick out your most decent pair of unmentionables, and maybe consider getting Maids by Trade to come clean your home. After all, it might be nice for something to be clean in a day dedicated to riding public transportation with no pants on.