So, as I mentioned last week, I had a meeting with MassPIRG's mad-articulate Eric Bourassa about how to get the sheople who use the T to show up at public hearings and show their opposition to the proposed 30% fare increase and 50% service cut and their support for Governor Patrick's gas tax, with it's 6¢ a gallon going to the T for the express purpose of preserving current services and preventing fare increases.

The T Rider's Union has scheduled a protest at the State House today at 3:30, but my guess is that a handful of diehards from TRU and representatives from MassPIRG and a couple other groups who've been lobbying on T riders' behalf, fighting to keep fares affordable and seeking solutions to the budget black hole at the T for years, will once again be the only ones to show up to make the case.  And that ain't right.

So we brainstormed a bit, but it wasn't until yesterday, when I saw a post entitled "Zombie March in Cambridge?" and followed a link to last year's "Zombie Walk"...


...that I had my "Eureka!" moment.  Is it too late to whip up a T zombie flash mob? 

Isn't it funny that throngs of people can find time to amass for World Pillow Fight Day or to ass about at a "silent rave" on the Common, or even to ride the T without their trousers for a laugh, but you can't get six people to show up to a political protest that could ensure they'll be able to get to their next flash mob destination in a timely and convenient manner. (And if you think service cuts won't impact your next Zombie Walk, consider (a) zombies don't drive, and (b) it's on a Sunday, bitches, so good luck catching a train to Davis Square.)

I realize it's probably too late now, but there's a lesson here for TRU and other organizations committed to safeguarding at least some semblance of social and economic justice: disguise your protest as an emphatically meaningless performance piece, where people can show up pantless or in face paint and slathered in blood, and make asses of themselves, and before you know it you'll have a movement on your hands.