Mardi Gras

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Thirty six years ago I got off a Delta jet in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a friend of mine. We were going to Mardi Gras. What happened on Fat Tuesday is a little foggy, but here is the little bit that I do remember. First there was a parade on Canal Street, and the people on the parade floats were throwing worthless, aluminum coins and beads to the people watching. It was bedlam. Old ladies pushing and shoving, little kids running everywhere, all vying for those stupid coins and beads. I managed to get quite a few, but after getting my fingers stomped on by a little black kid, we decided it was time to go over to Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street was packed side to side with a human tide of drunks, a few religious zealots, and me. I almost immediately got separated from my friend, so I spent most of Mardi Gras alone. Here is an interesting fact about New Orleans. It is a place where you can drink liquor on the street, and the bars where you get that drink are open twenty four hours a day. That would prove to be problematic for me, as the rest of the day was a blur of wedging myself into bars packed tightly with drunks, trying to find a place to pee, and then trying to buy another drink from the over worked bartenders. I do remember at one point being on a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street, and seeing a lot of women showing off their bare breasts. They were standing under the balcony of a gay bar yelling for beads. Surprisingly, they got quite a lot of beads there. I also remember seeing naked people in the pool room of one bar. It is quite possible that I was one of them. Other than that, the day was truly a blur of drunkenness.

As you can see, I had a terrific time. So if you ever have the chance, go to Mardi Gras. Everybody should do it at least once. And if you do, try to keep your clothes on. It's probably for the better that you do.