There’s a good reason that God invented clothing, and for most of us, if you bother to look in a full-length mirror just after exiting the shower, you can see why.
There’s also the issue of something our culture used to call decorum, defined as “dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.”
Dignified propriety.
That’s the opposite of what got some folks in trouble in New York this week.
As Carol Burnett remarked in her motion picture, “The Four Seasons,” “I don’t like to see my friends naked. It makes it difficult to eat dinner with them later.”
One would think if there was a place in our nation where it was clear that it would be inappropriate to show up sans-clothing, it would be on Wall Street in New York City.
After all, if for no other reason, you ARE in New York City and, well, from what we’ve been told out here, that just wouldn’t be a safe place to go without your pockets.
Here’s how the Associated Press reported the incident:
“Some artists got naked on Wall Street during a performance art piece — and then they got arrested.
“The two men and a woman were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct Monday morning outside the New York Stock Exchange.
“Manhattan artist Zefrey Throwell organized the 5-minute social critique of Wall Street with dozens of volunteers acting like people at work. He says he didn’t intend to provoke police and his target was U.S. and world financial institutions.
“Among those arrested was Brooklyn personal trainer and performance artist Eric Clinton Anderson, who played a naked janitor outside the stock exchange’s heavily guarded front door. He jokes, “Somebody needs to clean up Wall Street.”
“Arrested with Anderson were another Brooklyn man and a Queens woman. Police say they created a public disturbance.”
No. Really?
Naked men and women on Wall Street created a public disturbance?
Whatever.
At least they didn’t expect taxpayers to foot the bill, and that is refreshing in this era. They can post their bail and pay their fines and get back to their private sector lives without the involvement of the taxpayers of New York or the rest of the country.
We may not like people showing up naked on Wall Street, but we like it a whole lot less when they expect taxpayers to fund the project.
— Chuck Smith