FAT TUESDAY

Notes of Concern…

                               …Jackson Blair

FAT TUESDAY

MARDI GRAS in New Orleans.  

According to Wikipedia:

The terms  "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday

Almost everyone has read about the Fat Tuesday celebrations that occur in the most French of American cities. It certainly cannot compare to the festivities in Rio de Janeiro or perhaps in other cities around the world but for the United States once each year New Orleans becomes a city of fun, frivolity and outrageous behavior.

And it is tied to a very religious season!

New Orleans is known throughout the year as one of the best places anyone can visit in search of a good meal. The cooking, especially the creole cooking, is outstanding.

Folks line up for Breakfast at Brennans. They used to stand in line to hear Al Hirt play his trumpet or Pete Fountain his clarinet. Then there is the Preservation Hall Jazz  band. For those with thicker pocket books there was great dining at Antoines or Galatoires or Commander’s Palace.

But during Mardi Gras most activity is on the street, specifically Bourbon Street. The first time I went to Mardi Gras I wanted to be in the midst of it. I selected a hotel right on Bourbon Street and got a room with a balcony facing the street. Below my room the street was wall-to-wall people. They were loud, raucous and outrageous. I stayed out until 2AM and then returned to my room…but I could not sleep. Too much noise.

A friend rapped on my door at 3AM to suggest I return to the street for more of the fun but I demurred. I think I may have been the only person in New Orleans who actually was in his hotel room.

I finally retreated to the bathroom, which was closer to the hall of the hotel than to Bourbon Street windows, shut the door and climbed into the tub. This muffled the noise.

Slept like a baby.

On a second trip I selected a hotel two blocks off Bourbon Street. Much wiser decision. I was able to enjoy the many parades conducted by the various Krewes and still had a chance to retreat to peace and quiet whenever I wanted. The parades are really fabulous. Almost every native of New Orleans belongs to one Krewe or another. They spend an entire year getting ready, electing a King, and building their float. The Krewes have a pecking order with some more valued than others. Just another class system I guess.

Before a parade thousands of people line up on the street. As the parade passes the members of the Krewe throw plastic beads at you and part of the fun is to collect as many of these as you can.

The downside of Mardi Gras can be simply stated: people behaving badly. Almost anything that you could think of that people might do when law and order seems to have taken a holiday and people have had too much to drink occurs right on the sidewalks and streets. After an initial shock at seeing such things, you begin to be very aware of your surroundings when you are outside.

During Mardi Gras a great many crimes occur. The least of these “crimes” are the outrageous prices one pays for a hotel room or a meal. Those Louisiana folks understand a good thing and they sure have one in Mardi Gras. To them it is like having the Olympics, only they get the tourists every year, not occasionally in a century!

As you get older you begin to see Mardi Gras for what it really is: a very expensive vacation in a place where pickpockets abound, personal safety in not insured, and people act like out of control teenagers (regardless of their age) in order to gather a bag of plastic beads.

My advice: if you are under 35 make the trip once, just for the experience. Over 35-live vicariously and watch it on television.

The irony in all this is that the whole party atmosphere is tied to the religious season of Easter. It seems to suggest that since one is about to engage in a very holy celebration it would be best to get one’s bad behavior and unholy partying completed before the holiday begins.

Am I the only one who finds this thinking a little odd?