Riders go pantless on Seattle's Link light rail

Ray Witherrite and his wife, Jacquie, were up from Dash Point for a day of shopping in downtown Seattle when they saw a crowd of hundreds gathered in Westlake Park, trailed by the camera-toting media. Ray asked a TV cameraman what was happening.

We wish we could do justice, in print, to the level of incredulity in Ray's voice when he repeated the cameraman's words:

"They're going to take their pants off on the train?" he said.

Oh yes, they did. They all did.

In the spirit of the Fremont Zombie Walk, and inspired by no-pants subway rides in New York City and 43 other cities around the globe, Seattle's Link light-rail line was initiated Sunday with its first-ever No Pants! Light Rail Ride, organized by Emerald City Improv.

Hundreds of participants paid for the round-trip fare, then shed their pants on the platform and rode the line to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport all afternoon wearing boxer briefs, swimming trunks and Speedo-style underwear.

Organizers Kelsey Wildstone and Luke Greenway, both of Seattle, counseled people to keep a straight face and try to pretend like there was nothing unusual about riding a train in January wearing little down below but underwear.

"Stay in character," Wildstone said. "Stick with it. Try to have fun."

Thomas Stur, of Brisbane, Australia, was on his way to Sea-Tac to catch a flight to Europe, when he burst out laughing at the sight of three men lounging nonchalantly against the train door, wearing nothing but their skivvies.

"What's with the underwear?" Stur said. "Did you forget your pants?"

Sound Transit rider Jesse Joksch — on the way to Alaska to work on a fishing trawler for four months — glanced out the window at the Columbia City platform and saw a dozen people on the platform, pantless.

"I've never seen anything like that before," he marveled.

The day gave people a chance "to be able to get away with something stupid you'd be too embarrassed to do otherwise," said Peter Zdebski, whose pantless outfit included a conservative blue blazer, white shirt and tie.

Most of the participants didn't know one another, yet many said they enjoyed being united with complete strangers by the joke.

Ray and Jacquie Witherrite, the Dash Point couple who happened upon the event, were so taken by the whole thing that they followed the crowd down from the park plaza into the transit tunnel. "At my age (65), you have to do virgin experiences," said Jacquie, throwing her arm around her husband as the two were swept down into Westlake Station on an escalator, surrounded by a throng of people readying to bare their legs in public.

"This is unbelievable," Ray Witherrite said. "I've always said, timing is everything."

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com