Thursday, February 4, 2010
Endymion place-marking ALREADY?
Posted by Kevin Allman on Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 9:09 PM
Over on the Mid-City mailing list (always a hotbed of intrigue and entertainment), Orleans Avenue-adjacent resident Chris Romero reports that people are already staking out their spots on the Endymion parade route.
The parade is nine days away. NINE DAYS.
Wrote Chris:
I'm as eager as the next guy to celebrate the roll of Endymion, but this has escalated into a problem of mass proportions. The practice of parking cube vans in the area, filled with kegs and ice, has increased exponentially. These vans are often used as makeshift port-a-potties once empty. You don't even want to know what that's like. There are fights, there is property damage, there is urination on houses and in alleys. In a surprising twist last year, this element added a new level of public indecency: couples having sex both on the neutral ground on the night before and in the surrounding blocks the day of. I kid you not. This has not just gotten out of control. It's a plague. If it's not enough to just be pushed out of sitting on the parade route, this litany of offenses has mounted to unprecedented levels. Imagine Bourbon St without all the pesky laws and controls....
In the past decade, where has it gone? To spraypaint and caution tape. Today, I was shocked to find three spaces marked off in the first block off Carrollton. That's a full 9 days before the parade.
We've got an email out to Chris to talk about this, but in the meantime: What do you think of the practice of staking out parade spaces days in advance? And has it gotten worse in recent years? (Feel free to kvetch about Ladder Etiquette as well.)
Speaking of...
-
The Mardi Gras behavior press conference
Secret insider tip from City Hall: "Use common sense."
- Feb 8, 2012
-
Marching groups prepare for parade season
Carnival marching groups hold fundraisers to benefit their groups and area organizations.
- Jan 27, 2012
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Phunny Phorty Phellows
- Jan 3, 2012
- More »
Comments (12)
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Obviously, nobody should be staking out public space that they aren't willing to share with the rest of the public once the parade starts. If we don't do something to protect are civic festivals, we're going to lose them all to the sort of thing Mr. Romero is describing.
Cannot believe I just typed "are" instead of "our" I'm not allowed to post here anymore for at least a week.
Jeffrey, in my experience, it's never a case of NOT sharing with others, just not sharing with..THEM. I'm always taking folks under our wing for Endymion. True Carnival spirit is just that. Not beer pong between 30 faux-hipsters.
This is why I haven't been at the beginning of the Endymion route in over a decade. C'mon. Folks are just as bad Uptown though. Give me a break.
Don't spray paint and think you can have that spot at 3pm Saturday afternoon! If you hang out there the whole time its your spot! Otherwise the first person there gets the spot!
E.R.: Are you kidding? I'm the only guy (idiot, take your pick) out there sitting on Friday afternoon. Come that night, people are LIVID if you've taken their spot, in particular the 20-somethings.
It’s usually the same group of families, usually who live in the area, that save a spot all day and night on Friday. This has been taking place for several years. The neighbors and the neighborhood has always been respected, at least in the first block. It has become part of the Endymion tradition. I agree with Endymion Rules, there are never any issues as long as you are with your spot and you do not think Spray paint holds a spot for you one week in advance. What is the harm to the parade if people are out there Friday? What Romero speaks about does not happen on Friday night but during the parade on Saturday night.
Its not just the 20 and 30 somethings - its also the arrogant middle agers, those who rope off chairs so close that you can't walk through the neutral ground and plop down port-a-potties like they own them and forbid anyone from coming near - who in the heck ALLOWS people to put their personal port-a-potties on PUBLIC property?
I have never understood any of this. When I go to a parade, I head out an hour or so before the parade, park, walk, and stand around and enjoy the parade. Then I walk back to my car and drive home. Why do people homestead for days and get in fights and act like idiots to watch a parade?
