The Lights. The Colors. The Magic of Mardi Gras.
Either they were raised by wolves
or I’m just getting old. But the last weekend of Mardi Gras is losing some of its charm for me. I know its the greatest free show on Earth but it isn’t free to those of us who live here. We gladly and graciously welcome everyone and in return we have our private property abused and literally trashed.
People have come to expect that the trash will be magically whisked away from the parade routes each night. So people just drop their trash where they finish with it. I heard one person ask where they could throw out their beer can when they finished and their friend told them, just drop it, they have people to clean everything up. Well this attitude has spilled out everywhere the parade goers go. And the city doesn’t send cleanup crews to clean private property.
The fence outside the Mormon church near my house had beer cans and bottles atop each of the spikes along the fence. I have come home twice in as many days to find young men peeing in the yard next to my house. I had to repair the flowerbeds in front of my house today because a neighbor’s friend who I nicely let use my driveway yesterday, stomped through the flowerbed and broken the edging getting in the car last night.
Since it was just me and mom going to the parades, we couldn’t even go this weekend, since we couldn’t safely get her through the crowds to a spot that some nice people had been willing to let us pitch camp with them in. So I got to stay home with a very disappointed mom and played cleanup crew to a bunch of spoiled brats who got to spend the weekend doing whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted.
Blergh. just too bad that some people have to spoil it for others. I’m not asking people not to have fun or party or drink or dance or play music, I’m just asking them to refrain from treating my hometown like a garbage heap. OK, I’m done venting now.
Oh, and my apologies to the wolves.
GPOYWLTSWASOITRFHTSP Edition. What? Like there’s something weird about standing out in the rain for hours to see parades.
