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“A balm for the soul”
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togetherness

A surprise sweet 16 took place on the subway. It showed humanity at its best.

'Can strangers in a subway car come together and have a party?'

Addie Weyrich wanted to do something spectacular for her friend Jenny Gorelick's sweet 16.

So she decided to throw Gorelick a surprise party — on a New York City subway train.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.


Sporting a bright red dress and a whole lot of anxious enthusiasm, Weyrich informed passengers of New York City's Q train about what was about to happen.

"Jenny loves the subway," she announces to curious and confused riders in the video below. "She loves it so much that we thought we would throw her a surprise birthday party — right here, on this subway car."

She then asked riders if they'd help her pull it off.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

"She does not know this is happening," Weyrich explained to the passengers. "She thinks she's going to a completely different birthday party. She's going to come on at 57th Street — our friend, Sam, is there; she's going to make sure she's getting on this car exactly."

Fortunately — and maybe surprisingly if you think the cold New Yorker stereotype is true — most of the subway riders were more than happy to help pull it off.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

When it was time for Gorelick to step on board, the surprise went perfectly.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

The subway strangers seemed just as elated as Gorelick to celebrate her big 1-6.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

Here's the real surprise, though: Gorelick's birthday party ... wasn't a real birthday party.

Addie Weyrich is an actor. So is Gorelick.

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

Weyrich and Gorelick are part of the team at Improv Everywhere — a comedy group that produces spur-of-the-moment performances to get public reactions.

You can watch the video of the whole event here:

If you think that knowing it was staged might take away some of the magic of the sweet 16 party, you'd be wrong.

Though the birthday component of the performance was fake, the excitement, enthusiasm, and camaraderie of the subway riders — who were not in on the joke — certainly wasn't. And that was the point.

"The real intent behind this stunt was to see if we could get an assortment of random commuters to play along," Charlie Todd, who created and directed the event, wrote about the experiment. "Can strangers in a subway car come together and have a party?"

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

The answer, clearly, is yes.

Improv Everywhere orchestrated a number of the parties throughout the day. According to Todd, while not everyone on board was up for the surprise, about 80% of the riders helped out in some way when given the opportunity.

"The best part of the experience was the smiles, laughs, and hugs from complete strangers," Todd wrote. "I’ll never get tired of seeing people from all different walks of life come together to do something fun on a subway car."

Photo by Ari Scott for improveverywhere.com.

The performance by Improv Everywhere feels like a breath of fresh air in today's tumultuous times. Lately it can feel like everyone is helplessly divided; like the ties to our communities and neighbors are nonexistent, and we're all growing more detached.

That's simply not the case, and the helpful, smiley strangers that pulled off Jenny's 16th birthday are proof of it.

"Even if the set up was staged, the party was real," Todd wrote. "And it was a blast!"

True
Starbucks Upstanders

It all started when the Memphis Islamic Center purchased land across the street from Heartsong Church.

It took Pastor Steve Stone of Heartsong Church by surprise. "When I saw that, my stomach kind of tightened up. ... I felt that ignorance and that fear," he said.

He wasn't sure how to respond. But more than that, he wasn't sure how his congregation would respond. Would they welcome their new neighbors with open arms? Or would their arrival only lead to backlash?


Like Stone, Dr. Bashar Shala of the Memphis Islamic Center was unsure of what to expect.

The goal of the Islamic center was to create a place for people to "pray and play" and have a sense of community, but he knew they'd likely face resistance from the other churches in the area. The site would be surrounded by more than five Christian churches on what's been referred to as "Church Road," so the newcomers were sure to be noticed — especially at a time when mosque construction projects across the country were facing opposition.

"It is a difficult time for Muslims in America," he said. "We did not expect to be welcomed."

Some members of Heartsong Church were clearly uncomfortable.

"Me and my wife both were thinking about leaving church because I just did not accept what was going on," said Mark Sharpe, a member of the church.

Sharpe looked to Stone and asked him what he should do. The reply? Just read the gospels. Which Sharpe did. And they helped him reach a pretty emotional realization about the situation.

"I figured out I was the problem," Sharpe said. "What was going on with the world today, I was the problem."

Things started to take a turn during the holy month of Ramadan.

Shala wanted to kick it off with the grand opening of the new complex. But with delays in the construction, he knew they weren’t going to make it in time. So he reached out to Stone, asking if they could pray in Heartsong Church while they waited. He figured his congregation would only pray there for a few nights.

They ended up staying at Heartsong Church the entire month of Ramadan.

All images via Starbucks.

The experience brought both communities closer together unlike anything else.

"Ramadan brought us much closer. People started knowing each other on a personal level," Shala said.

Interacting with a group of people they probably wouldn't have otherwise and getting to know them as individuals helped some members of the church confront biases and prejudices. Sharpe explained, "It's kind of like my world got bigger."

Now the two groups work and socialize together frequently.

They support those in need by doing coat and food drives together.

In honor of 9/11 every year, they have done a blood drive and shared their facilities.

They’ve even combined their Thanksgiving dinners into one giant celebration.

And in spring, they throw an amazing picnic to gather the entire community.

Their inspirational friendship serves as an important reminder for all of us.

Even though about 1% of Americans (3.2 million people) are Muslim, they're still a very polarizing topic in the United States. But at the end of the day, who we pray to (or pray with) shouldn’t get in the way of loving and accepting each other.

Simply put, we’re all just people, ready to welcome new friends into the neighborhood.