Mardi Gras is one of those things that you need to do at least once in your life... People see images on the net and think that all the various parades are just one enormous debuachery. That is not entirely the case. The parades in the various suburbs in the New Orleans area tend to be quite a bit tamer -- basically more family oriented. The actions that you see in the French Quarter are definitely not the actions that you will see in the suburbs.
Tbe above photo was taken during one of the parades. These three young
girls decided to climb on top of someone's car who had parked it there
before the police had closed off the street. Being young and cute,
numerous beads were thrown towards them from the parade riders. Cars
are made out of considerably thinner materials these days and as such,
the weight of these girls caused some rather large indentations into the
roof of this car. Telling them that they should not be on the car did
not seem to have any affect upon them. Their parents were there and
refused to do anything about it, thinking that it was no big deal. They
were rather surprised to learn that where I was from, such behavior
would likely result in deadly force being utilized and it would probably
be completely legal. I suspect that this is not so much an indication
of the population of New Orleans, but rather the way that kids are these
days. Their parents refuse to discipline them and as such, they have
never had to take responsibility for their actions.
Body painting is somewhat popular during Mardi Gras. As you can see
here, some of the ladies might be better served with stucco instead of
paint.
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