No doubt we’ve all thought about jumping into those giant aquariums at Bass Pro Shops, but rarely have any of us acted on it.
However, one Alabama man finally let his intrusive thoughts win this past week – possibly aided through the use of alcohol and/or drugs – and did a full-on cannonball into a Leeds-area Bass Pro Shops aquarium, swimming in it for about five minutes before police arrived.
The 42-year-old nude man, who also took some time to stand under a waterfall, got out of the water to yell at a couple police officers on the scene, then proceeded to jump back into the aquarium. Eventually he climbed out of the aquarium, fell onto the concrete floor, was apprehended, and became an internet meme.
The man is now facing a slew of charges, which include public lewdness, disorderly conduct, and criminal mischief. That all tracks, as this was certainly the definition of mischief. But hey, he didn’t hurt anybody, and really, how was this different from seeing any other type of species swimming around in the aquarium?
Bass Pro Shops considers its aquariums public conversation outreach, helping customers and the greater public learn more about sporting heritage, conservation ethics, recreational fishing habitat improvement, clean water initiatives, watershed awareness, fish identification, and more. Surely, a swimming naked man – on display for everyone to gawk at – falls into some category that makes sense, at least enough to get the charges dropped.
Do All Bass Pro Shops Have Aquariums?
You bet they do. And according to the Bass Pro Shops site, every retail location not only features an aquarium, but it’s “decorated to match the local environment, and [is] stocked with trophy fish that are native to the area.” You can even donate a trophy catch of your own to one of these aquariums.
Now, if you’re planning to jump into a Bass Pro Shops fish tank yourself, you might consider finding the location nearest to you. But why not go big and do it at the Memphis Pyramid Bass Pro Shops store to say you went swimming within the tenth-largest pyramid in the world?
