Abington, Mass. School committee member resigns over bra trick

[Ian David]

School committee member resigns over bra trick
ABINGTON —

School Committee Chairman Russell W. Fitzgerald has resigned a week after performing a live-TV magic trick where he pretended to pull the bra off a female committee member at the group's monthly meeting.

Fitzgerald, who was serving his fourth three-year term, notified School Superintendent Peter G. Schafer this morning about his resignation.

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Fitzgerald, who has been starting most committee meetings with one of his magic tricks, pretended to pull a bra off committee member Ellen Killian at last Tuesday's meeting. Fitzgerald was assisted by high school teacher Steven Shannon., although neither Killian nor Shannon knew what Fitzgerald had planned.

The trick involved tying a pair of handkerchiefs together and handing one end to Shannon, who stood across from Fitzgerald on the other side of Killian. Killian held the knot against her chest when the two men pulled the ends and made a bra appear.

Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/archive/x360260950/School-committee-member-resigns-over-bra-trick#ixzz1ZjsDQMKg

[MADem]

1. I dunno--unless the guy was a jerk, I don't think he should have been canned.

If two women did the same trick with a guy's BVDs, it would be funny. If anyone did the trick, using a bra, on a GUY, everyone would roar laughing.

I think--unless, of course, the guy was a blowhard and the town used this as an excuse to force him to resign--that this might be a bit of PC run amok.

It's a bra. People wear less walking down the street nowadays. I wonder if the lady upon whom the trick was played had a gripe against the amateur magician?

[SheilaT]

2. It's the context.

That's a reasonably amusing trick, but it should not have been performed at a live broadcast of the committee. There really is a time an place for everything.

[MADem]

3. I don't know the guy. However, according to reports I have seen, he has been doing

this before every televised meeting for YEARS. It's a "schtick" of his, to do a magic trick, and people tune in to see what stupid thing he does, and stay for the meeting. So, if there were "time and place" gripes, they should have been addressed years ago.

I guess that's the danger of being a "local character." He probably felt pressured to top himself. He should have done the trick on the guy, and used the woman as his assistant.

[murielm99]

4. I get the impression that this is one of those things that

gets excused by saying, "You had to BE there."

It sounds like he starts the meeting with these magic tricks to get people's attention. They watch the trick, and stay tuned for the meeting. That is all right. And if the guy does this all the time, people should be used to it. They could be saying or thinking, "Well, that is just Joe. He does this all the time."

OTOH, it would not work in my small town. Many people would not be amused. Even if the guy did not resign, people would never forget it.

[MineralMan]

5. Pretty childish. Doesn't seem appropriate to the situation.

I don't know that it warrants a resignation, though.

[Ezlivin]

6. Damn. The panty trick was next week!

I had hoped to learn that one before my next high school reunion.

On second thought, perhaps I should learn the Depends trick....

[LeftinOH]

7. I wish this article explained how to do this trick properly. I still don't get it. n/t