Almost everyone has hated Valentine’s Day at one time or another in their life. It’s most likely out of these deep feelings of love scorned masked by a disdain for corporate holidays that the great Pillow Fight was borne. This year marked the fourth anniversary of the San Francisco Pillow Fight. The rules were simple. You should bring a pillow to the Justin Herman Plaza at the Embarcadero in San Francisco on Valentine’s Day. When the clock strikes 6PM, engage in the pillow fight with out pillow wielding combatants. Above all else, tell your friends and spread the word about the event. While you’re at it, you might as well bring canned food items to donate to the food bank. You know, just so it doesn’t seem like a completely selfish event.
As the final minutes before the start of the event came, so did the crowd. Hundreds of participants armed with pillows swarmed onto the plaza, packing it full. Pillow styles varied from freshly purchased department store pillows still in their plastic, traditional well-worn pillows that had seen their fair share of love and scorn, small heart-shaped and themed accent pillows, and even a few couch cushions thrown into the mix. Those who weren’t armed with pillows represented another segment – the embedded pillow war journalists packing their camera gear. Officials representing the event included Violet Blue for PNN (Pillow News Network) along with a handful of faux UN representatives performing Pillow Inspections and urging the stop of the great Pillow Conflict.
Their words went unheeded, amounting to little more than the fluff that was soon to fly as the onslaught of pillow violence quickly ensued.
