At the age of 46 - which came as a surprise to me last week,
because I honestly thought I was only 45 - I have seen and participated in more
parades than I have the holidays they are supposed to represent. As a young child I rode on floats tossing
candy and waving, whether it was with my elementary school, the Boy Scouts or
the Indian Guides. As a teenager, I
walked alongside horses or other various organizations, waving at those seated
on the hard curb that refused to wave back.
As I became a parent I was either drafted as a chaperone or was
organizing a float to participate. A few
years ago, I even organized a float for the pizza business I was marketing for,
passing out candy and coupons. I’ve seen
quite a few parades.
However, when I was in the middle age of my middle age, my
sister wanted me to drive ten hours to see yet another parade. I lived in Florida. The parade was in Mobile. “That’s ten hours there and ten hours back to
watch a thirty minute parade. You’re crazy!”
“But this isn’t just a parade,” she pleaded. “This is Mardi Gras in the city that gave
birth to the festivities.”
It wasn’t just the trip that made me pause. It was Mardi Gras and my sister. I had heard about these parades and the
manner in which women earned beads. If a
bunch of women were going to be flashing their boobs at us, I didn’t want to be
with my sister when it happened. I also
didn’t want to be there if that’s how she got her beads, either.
“You’re thinking New Orleans. This is Mobile,” she said. “We do things a
little more conservative.”
Eventually, I surrendered and Char and I made the trip up
deciding to spend the weekend. One of
the things I noticed is that Mardi Gras was as big to the residents there as
Christmas is to me. Just about
everything was decorated including a dog we saw taking an afternoon stroll with
beads where a collar should be. It’s
very serious business.
As we checked into our hotel, the bouncy lady with the
sparkly smile who registered us, made sure we knew about each parade that was
happening that weekend giving us her opinions of which were the best. Before we left the lobby, she gave us our
first trio of beads - one gold, one green, one purple. They were the longest necklaces I had seen
and glittered a metallic shine.
“And I didn’t have to show my boobs,” Char said.
I offered to go to the room and let her practice, but she
was ready for lunch. It had been worth a
try.
Mardi Gras was everywhere. People had banners hanging from their front porches and balconies and storefronts used the colorful decorations in their displays. People wore shirts and hats with the Mardi Gras masks and beads hung from just about every rearview mirror of every car we saw. It wasn’t long before they were hanging from ours as well.
After lunch, we were going to see our first parade. It was in Pascagoula along Highway 90 and we
found a spot on the curb and settled in to give Mardi Gras its first chance
with us. The breeze was cool and
comfortable and the sky the clear as stars twinkled at us. It was a fantastic night for a parade.
When I go to a parade, I prefer to go a little early. I pick out my spot, set up my camp chair, sip
my coffee and watch the people around me.
I want to be right up front and comfortable. I’ll allow a little child to sit in front of
me, but Mom and Dad must wait behind me.
If they wanted a better spot, they should have come earlier. Of course, that’s a Christmas or Veteran’s
Day parade. This was Mardi Gras and I
was soon to learn a whole different creature than what I was used to.
People began pouring out of nowhere and soon we were four
and five deep and being pushed from all sides.
It was not so bad until the parade itself started. At that point, I felt as if I had the
football and the opposing team was trying to rip it out of my hands. It was total madness. Everyone jostled one another, children and
women were knocked out of the way as grown men grabbed for a moon pie they
could easily buy at the store directly behind us.
Highway 90 is a six-lane road and the parade was using all
three of the west bound lanes. They
should have had plenty of room. However,
no one stayed where they were, instead creeping out to the floats trying to
reach the trinkets being thrown. The
floats were soon at a crawl in order to keep from running anyone over. It was the most pathetic display of childish
behavior by adults I had seen. I felt
sorry for the little ones around me who didn’t stand a chance against the
adults twice their size and gave some of the little we had caught to those
closest to us.
When it was finally over, I had to say I was glad. I was also very bruised and battered. I had called my sister and told her how
appalled I had been at the people’s behavior.
“I didn’t get as abused in the Mosh Pit I had been tossed in at that
punk rock concert as I was at that parade.
I didn’t need to drive for ten hours to be roughed up. I could have stayed at home with the boys for
that.”
Laurie assured me they weren’t all that bad. “Mobile does
Mardi Gras right.” I had to experience
it there before I gave up on the whole experience. I remained skeptical, but agreed to give it
one more shot.
The next day, we drove to Mobile, Mother of Mystics.
* * * * *
Tune in tomorrow for part two of our Mardi Gras Messing!
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Thanks for visiting The Mess!
Robbie, my father's side of the family comes from Breaux Bridge, LA and my mother was raised in Bastrop, LA. I was born and raised in Pt. Arthur, TX. But I'm Cajun through and through.I even lived in New Orleans for a year, but I've never been to Mardi Gras. I have no desire to go either. Your description of the festivities makes me glad I avoided it all these years.
ReplyDeleteThat first day was rough...come back tomorrow and see how it changed though! We have a lot of family in that area. It's a different world lol
DeleteThank for visiting and sharing, Robert!
Sitting here thinking about the sheltered life I've lived.
ReplyDeleteAnd after reading this, I'm exceedingly grateful.
;)
lol..Actually, that experience was the worst. However, it got better as you can see in the next post. We now have a party here every year and it's one of our best social gatherings.
DeleteThanks for visiting, Jenna!
SHOW US YOUR BOOBS, Robbie!!!! LOL Seriously, good stuff but I must admit, I am not a fan of parades. Too many people and so much noise but it does sound like this was an experience. Now please pass the Moon Pies....
ReplyDeleteThat was in 1998. I may still have some Moon Pies left...lol
DeleteThanks for visiting, my friend.