When taking your clothes off is a political statement.

A woman posted her story of biking to WalMart to purchase something and upon arriving, she discovered there were no bike racks for her to secure her transportation. The employees wouldn't allow her into the store, claiming that because WalMart sells bikes, she could be mistaken for a shoplifter. She insisted that since they didn't sell her kind of bike, this shouldn't be a problem, but the store manager was insistent.

"I was starting to get really frustrated since I had ridden all the way there seemingly for no reason, so I asked her if they also sold shirts in the store. She said yes so I took off my jersey and said well then I'd better not bring this in either. She got kind of flustered and said that it was a different situation but couldn't explain why. So I said that if they also sold shorts in the store that I'd better not wear those in either and I took off my shorts. Same goes for the shoes and sunglasses. Now I'm standing there in my spandex and a sports bra and I ask her if I can leave my things behind the customer service counter where they will be safe until I finish making my purchases and she said that I couldn't come into the store without shoes on, to which I responded 'but I certainly can't wear shoes into the store because you sell those here and someone might think I've stolen them.'"

It's these moments of ridiculous that really point out the flaws in our system. What it boils down to is the store manager couldn't handle someone who wouldn't fit into the right box. This customer wasn't compliant enough. And it was too inconvenient to find a solution that worked for her, if she was going to be silly enough to ride a bike instead of burn oil like the rest of us. I know it didn't solve her problem, but I do appreciate the whimsy that inspired her to take her clothes off in protest. I wonder if we could turn that into a grassroots campaign, where we organize groups of people to go to WalMart's with bikes and strip in front of the store?