Mr. G. and Meredithian wanted to try out pole dancing... but where to find a pole?

The local bus stop!

Things we learned about pole dancing:

Pole dancing is HARD! We looked at some moves and poses online, and picked a few things that looked pretty easy to try out on a practice run a few nights before the real deal. We couldn't do any of them! Pole dancers are seriously ripped. Later, when it was showtime, we learned that having bare legs really helps when it comes to gripping the pole; on our practice run, in our jeans, we were sliding all over the place and afraid to try anything upside down for fear we would land on our heads. Clothesless, it was far easier than we first imagined. We also learned that a bus stop pole is much larger in diameter than a real stripper pole, as in all the videos we watched, the dancers were able to grip around the entire pole with one hand, which could not be done on a bus stop pole. Having a good grip is essential; it became apparent that a few moves which were very difficult at the bus stop would be easier on a real stripper pole. And lastly, bare metal is much harder to grip onto than the painted bus stop poles, which is why the closest bus stop to us couldn't be used, so instead of Montrose we headed to Damen. Oh! even more lastly, for the really fancy upside down and spinning moves, you need a lot of height, and bus stop poles are disappointingly not tall enough.

People on the street were far more disinterested than we anticipated. At first this was a relief, but later was a little disappointing. One exception came early on, while we were mentally preparing our routines and stretching, and an elderly lady passed us by. Meredithian was stretching and Mr. G was testing out an upside down move on the pole, and the lady asked whether the stretching was for the exercise we were about to do, or if the stretching was the exercise, and commented on Mr. G's pole move, asking if it was "the finale, or the preparation." Meredithian was tempted to reply with a "Finale? Oh, just you wait." but was worried the lady might actually stick around, as she seemed quite chatty. (She also asked us about our stretching routines and which quad stretches were best and seemed generally reluctant to get on her way. Perhaps she could tell we were mostly naked under our jackets.)

Other than the occasional jogger and the chatty lady early on, the only other passers by were a group of about ten Asian students. They laughed at us, a lot, but seemed a little nervous or awkward about staring at us. One of the girls did a double take when she noticed that under the hoodie Meredithian was wearing (which was unzipped) she was only wearing a bra.

Luckily, the bus came by a few times while we were out there, and even more luckily, it didn't actually stop for anyone to get off. There was a stop sign right by us, though, so the steady stream of traffic passing us by got quite the eyeful. We got a fair share of hoots, honks, and hollers, but no dollars. Meredithian had a van full of girls yell at her quite loudly, and is excited to see if any 'missed connections' will be posted about her bus stop adventure.

Upon leaving, Meredithian remarked "I feel like I left something back there, you know?" "Maybe my modesty?"

Though it was bitter cold (especially the pole!!) and snowy, and a little wet, the bus stop pole dancing was pretty much a success. We felt a little awkward at first, being outside nearly naked, by the end of it, we were almost comfortable enough to walk home in our underwear. Except for the cold.