While the snowball fights themselves aren't knew, adults participating in them really is. It's an interesting phenomenon. Even as recently as a generation ago, adults throwing snowballs at each other would have been considered 'odd' at best. I wonder what changed? And why?

(Note, I think it was a good thing. Just wondering why it's now okay for adults to engage in what would have been considered 'child's play' before.)

by Lance on Feb 9, 2010 11:14 am  

Thats a good point, and adults do many other once non-adult things, such as playing kickball.

by arm on Feb 9, 2010 11:20 am  

More leisure time gives adults more time to play. Thank goodness for modern laundry equipment, frozen foods, perm-press textiles .... and even sliced bread!

by Tour guide on Feb 9, 2010 11:40 am  

Lance I was noticing the same thing. It's the whole Gen X thing- many of us never really grew up- especially those of us with no kids who live in big cities. I doubt that there were many adults with children at the duPont snowball fight.

I sometimes feel like the only "grown up" among my Gen X peers with no kids. I don't spend most of my free time playing video games and drinking.

by T. Aloisi on Feb 9, 2010 11:46 am  

@T. Aloisi: I would have to dispute the notion that it's "the whole Gen X thing". Maybe it's because I'm in the older half of Gen X, but if anything, I've seen most of my Gen X friends (whose ages span the 30s and young 40s) being highly responsible and very grown-up.

While your findings of shiftlessness and laziness might be affected by confirmation bias and the feedback effect of your chosen circle of friends, I'm convinced that the image of X cultivated in the eighties by young boomer journalists with a bad case of projection doesn't really apply.

FWIW, I should also point out that while start and end dates are fluid, Generation X is generally seen as cutting off no later than 1981. Any twentysomethings in the snowball crowd are Gen Y not X.

by Craig on Feb 9, 2010 12:27 pm  

Tour Guide, Not sure if I agree with the 'more leisure time available' argument. I've found over my career my leisure time decreasing in an inverse correlation to the proliferation of communication/computing devices. In an era when I can work from anywhere at any time, with anyone. And be reached by text, phone, or even email as I am walking down the street, my real leisure time has decreased significantly ... especially in this time of economic woes where companies have realized that 'bottom lines' can be preserved by simply shifting more work on the 'ever more available' remaining workforce. I'd buy a 'flexibility' argument ... since we can more easily manage to be in '2 places at once' with our 'plugged-in' accessibility, but I won't buy the increased leisure time argument. Yes, there was a time that that argument held (maybe 25 or 40 years ago?), but employers long ago learned how to tap into 'relaxation' time to increase productivity!

And yes, though I was working on Sunday (thanks to the ability to do so via today's electronic wizardry), I took a break to go to the snowball fight. (No, I didn't actually throw a snowball ... Though with my dog on leash I did walk right through a barrage!)

by Lance on Feb 9, 2010 12:30 pm  

interesting ...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/virginia/va-students-charged-with-felon.html

Also, the other day I was watching some of the videos from the snowball fight at 14th and U back in December and couldn't help think that if this were the '70s and dectective had been white and the crowd black, the actions of the crowd would have been universally condemned by the press and others. For example, in the videos you clearly hear these adults calling the cop a 'pig' ... after they pelted his car (and him) with snow balls.

by Lance on Feb 9, 2010 12:58 pm  

Since it's snowing again, it's going to be another Dupont Circle snowball fight on Wednesday at 2pm: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=298941447580

by Denis on Feb 9, 2010 1:37 pm  

We're still digging out from the February 6, 2009 storm? Man, we suck.

by Steven desJardins on Feb 9, 2010 2:01 pm  

The action, the fun, the thrill of the fight!

Commemorate Washington’s epic Snowmaggedon battle of 2010 with an Official Dupont Circle Snowball Fight souvenir!

If you were able to join the fight on Saturday, February 6, or if you missed it and want to be a part of the rematch on Wednesday, February 10, or even if you just want to enjoy a part of DC history – check out these T-shirts, mugs, magnets and sticker! Designed by Eighty2degrees (www.eighty2degrees.com), a local design studio.

Please check out our shop here: http://www.zazzle.com/yarokad

By buying a souvenir, you can also do your part for earthquake relief in Haiti, because we will donate part of the profits to IsraAid , a coordinating body of Israel-based aid organizations active in international development and relief work. It was among the first groups to arrive in Haiti, immediately providing urgently needed medical care to victims.

Hope to see you tomorrow at 2 pm for The Official Dupont Circle Snowball Fight - Redux!
The ODCSF Crew

by Ami on Feb 9, 2010 10:27 pm  

Ami, did you check with David before posting an advertisement on his blog?

by Lance on Feb 9, 2010 10:46 pm