NPR: The Festivus 'Feats of Strength'

The Festivus 'Feats of Strength'

We ended Wednesday's show talking about Festivus -- the end-of-year "holiday" made popular by the creators of Seinfeld. The celebration's strange rituals have been picked up at parties nationwide. It's full of grievances, bare aluminum poles, and "feats of strength."

Click the picture to view the slideshow.

Last Saturday, I went to Brooklyn to check out one of these parties myself. Over a dozen 20-somethings gathered 'round the pole that substituted for a Christmas tree. Their grievances ranged from the personal to the political.

But the highlight of the night were the feats of strength, which took the form of co-ed wrestling on a big red "x" taped on a hardwood kitchen floor.

My opponent's name was picked out of a hat. He was a 6'1" man in a button-down blue business shirt, and outweighed me by at least 50 pounds. Rules were no biting, hair pulling or kicking. What was a girl to do?

The match quickly got messy. As he was trying to lift me up, his hand inadvertently went (eh-hem) through my legs. It wound up looking like he was trying to cop a feel, even though that clearly wasn't his intention. The crowd contested, bursting into boos and laughter. He paused to apologize profusely. I blushed. The game continued.

All I could manage was a weak backwards kick to trip my opponent. It was hopeless -- I was immediately taken down to the floor. I insist, however, I was not completely pinned. One of my shoulders was up the whole time. In the end, I wasn't sure who was more humiliated, me or my opponent.

Photos courtesy of Orlando Perez.

Pauline Bartolone

3:40 PM ET | 01- 3-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

My favorite Festivus tradition is eating Ben and Jerry's Festivus ice cream. Alas, they no longer make that flavor and it is but a fond holiday memory now. It was chock full of gingerbready goodness.

Sent by Maura | 5:53 PM ET | 01-03-2008

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