Throw me somethin' Mister!

Ah yes folks, today is Fat Tuesday and I would be remiss if I didn’t shout it a bit here and there.

Mostly here.

The story this Mardi Gras has been that it’s even happening after the ‘canes gave New Orleans a blow job she’ll never forget.

Mardi Gras this year does illustrate a few things that some people have yet to realize.

First off, I’m pretty sure it would take the entire city itself being swallowed whole by lake Pontchartrain to stop the parades, and even then some of the krewes might just take the word ‘float’ literally and take them out on barges. There’s just something about people who can party in the midst of anything. If they exist in America, then New Orleans is the place.

This brings up another point, one the media is completely gobsmacked by: Mardi Gras is happening because there are people in New Orleans who didn’t rely on the government to evacuate them, take care of them, and rebuild for them once it was over. These are the type of people who roll up their sleeves and do what they have to in a time of crisis. They don’t whine about it, they don’t point fingers, they just get on with life. These people are the heart and soul of New Orleans. Unlike Ray Nagen, they don’t think of themselves as chocolate or vanilla or double raspberry swirl, they’re just New Orleans folks. I’m willing to bet that those still shacking up on FEMA’s dime are not and have never been involved with the planning, crewing and performance of the parades. They don’t have what it takes.

Some people are completely aghast that they’re even having Mardi Gras this year. “How can you just move on with your lives when there are so many displaced residents still holding up in hotels?”

I’ll tell you how; they came back (or never left), rebuilt their city and their homes and didn’t rely on Uncle Sam to do it for them. The people who have been able to take this hurricane in stride, who stayed to rebuild and move on are the ones who disserve a party. And imagine that, they didn’t rely on anyone for that either, they just threw their own party.

Bravo, Mardi Gras.

Laissez les bons temps roulent !