There's this thing that happens the first time people encounter a group of furries.
First they stare.
Then they look all around, like "Is this real? Do I really see what I think I see?"
And then they either smile and jump into the fray or walk away as fast as they can. Those who smile are usually in for a fun night. Like that Red Sox fan up there? He spent half an hour after that initial encounter posing with furries and taking photos. I guarantee he had a good time.
Then there's this group of airline employees. They did the stare.
Then had the "Are you freakin' kidding me?" conference with one another.
Since there were a bunch of them, their conference was a loooooong one.
And then they ran for the elevator so fast you would have thought their shoes were on fire. They TOTALLY missed out.
Watching unsuspecting people run into a herd of furries is pretty much the Greatest Thing Ever. I swear there should be a reality show based on it. I would end up rolling on the floor laughing every single episode. To make it more epic, they could have people try to win money by guessing whether people would end up opening Door 1 and having fun with the furries or if they would open Door 2 and run for their lives.
Wait! I have an idea! The first contestant should be Paul Steigerwald (one of the Pittsburgh Penguins TV announcers)!
Except, I already saw that episode. It was a goooood one.
The episode started with my friend Bob moving faster than a gazelle to cross the lobby of the Westin. We were camped out watching furries and I swear that man has never moved as fast as he did that moment, all the while mumbling something about "melting Twitter."
And then I saw why. Steigy. He was there.
Steigy was standing in the Westin lobby and knee deep in Step 2 of the Furry Acceptance Program. He had that blank stare people get as they look around and try to figure out whether they've walked into an episode of Punk'd or what. As he sat on a bench, clearly torn between embracing the crazy or running for life, he looked like he needed a hug. Seriously. The man clearly needed a hug.
As luck would have it, there happened to be a giant bunny RIGHT there who was wearing a Free Hugs t-shirt. He could help!
Bob Likes Hugs
A problem. A solution. IT WAS TOO PERFECT.
So, I maybe kinda sorta walked over to the giant Free Hugs bunny and asked if him to give Steigy a hug. The Free Hugs bunny quickly agreed, but he couldn't see the nose in front of his face through that mask, so I kinda sorta maybe guided him directly to Steigy as he sat on the bench a few feet away.
And then I ran like hell so I could capture this:
And then the angels sang, babies everywhere smiled, dogs howled, fish high-fived one another, and all was right with the world.
Oh, and which door did Steigy pick?
The fun one, of course. Furry hugs are magical!