There was a wedding which took place about 2004 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Ada and Durgy had long planned their special day, both of them being staff members, Durgy on the Media team and Ada in DPW, they wanted the occasion to go smoothly. In addition to the Burning Man office staff and a few close friends, they had invited their parents and siblings, which came from some distance in order to attend the wedding.

As the appointed time grew near, the wedding party assembled down by the old windmill on a green grassy lawn surrounded by a colorful flower garden. The bride wore a beautiful white dress, the groom a nice suit and tie, and everyone there in their sunday wedding best. As the ceremony was about to begin, and much to everyones dismay, a ragged homeless couple pushed a shopping cart into the middle of the assembled gathering. Then, in a very gruff voice, the homeless man approached the groom, stuck out his palm and said “Gimme a quarter, dammit!”

At this point, several of the grooms male friends decided that this intrusion had gone too far, they begin to surround the homeless couple with the idea of ejecting them from the proceedings. It was then that I reached down and ripped off the plastic bags what were wrapped around my legs and feet, revealing shiny black patent leather shoes with white spats. I quickly slipped off my ragged coat, revealing a formal tuxedo with long tails, a white ruffled shirt with french cuffs and a black bow tie around my neck. Then in one motion, I removed the sunglasses and black watch cap, reached into the shopping cart, pulled out a silk top hat and snapped it onto my head. Dusty quickly followed, casting off her blanket, revealing a formal black suit, and then removed her hat and stingy blond wig, exposing her nice hairdo.

You should have seen the look of relief on the faces of the rest of the wedding party. See less

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