We've all done things we're not terribly proud of to earn some money. Yesterday, I spent two hours dressed up as Batgirl walking up and down a four block area of 6th Street. Get your mind out of the gutter as I explain... I was one of the hired actors for an urban scavenger hunt called Go Game. Teams of contestants are set lose with a mobile phone tricked-out with GPS, email and text capabilities. They are also given a little lunchbox containing a digital camera and a few tools to help them with their scavenger hunt. Dressed as Batgirl, I was one of the people that contestants had to find. Their mission was to stage a tabloid photo with Batgirl caught doing unsuperhero-like activities. The teams were pretty creative and had me posing as a purse-snatcher, a bike thief, a mugger at an ATM, boozing it up at the shot bar (it was just cranberry juice!), getting caught in a (fake) surprise kiss, etc...The game was lots of fun and the contestants were super-nice. The weird part of the day was waiting for teams to find me. Passing cars honked at me. Everyone who passed me on foot said, "hi Batgirl," or "hi Batwoman". Only a few people asked me why I was in costume. Several tourists (one couple all the way from Canada) took photos with me. Everyone felt like they could approach me and talk to me, which was kind of weird and different for me. My husband sums it up well, that I was "flying my freak flag" and thus a magnet for comments and interaction. No one (really, not one person) said anything rude to me.
Not that I will parade solo up and down 6th Street in racy costumes on a regular basis, but there are worse ways to earn paycheck.
