I, like most of us, think that Mardi Gras is exactly what this city needs right now. We’ve forgotten how to have fun, and it’s time we start appreciating the good things about New Orleans again. There is nothing that tastes better than Popeye’s and beer except Popeye’s and beer on Mardi Gras day. And I for one am excited.
MAKE MAMA PROUD
There is no reason we all can’t clean up our Hand Grenade souvenir cups and Bud Lite beer cans, especially after all the other garbage that messy girl Katrina left behind last year. The trash is inevitable, though, and the city has a backup. KATRINA (Krewe Aiding In Trash Removal In The New Orleans Area) is planning a clean-up day on March 4 along the Uptown parade routes. For more information about KATRINA, e-mail [email protected]. In addition, Glad Products, the only official corporate sponsor for this year’s Mardi Gras season, will donate 100,000 trash bags and “an unspecified six-figure financial contribution,” according to The Times-Picayune.
SOMEONE WILL TAKE CARE OF US
Given the low number of police around the city, some are getting worried about crowd control during Mardi Gras. Well, we can worry a little less (and I mean little). According to The Times-Picayune, the New Orleans City Council made a unanimous vote to “spend $2.7 million on police overtime and other Carnival-related expenses.” These extra expenses include sanitation and towing. That’s right, four people got shot at the Muses parade last year, but we’ll be concentrating on illegally parked cars in 2006.
WILL TOURISM RETURN?
There will inevitably be fewer tourists this year in New Orleans than there has been in the past. Who wants to vacation in a city full of FEMA trailers and hurricane debris? Though, it will be a nice break for us from overcrowded bars and topless out-of-towners. The thing is, Mardi Gras has to be a success this year because it needs a cash flow that tourism offers and New Orleans depends on. The city needs to prove to the rest of the country that New Orleans is still a fun place to be.
BE CAREFUL
According to The Times-Picayune, two hospitals in the city have functioning emergency rooms: Tulane University Hospital and Touro Infirmary. The city is, however, prepared for backup at Ochsner Hospital and the Convention Center for minor injuries. But “because the local health-care system is about one-third of what it was before Katrina struck, health experts are urging everyone to be as careful as possible: Drive defensively, obey traffic regulations, don’t fight for beads and don’t overindulge,” said Dr. James Aiken, a Louisiana State University emergency-medicine doctor and member of the Mardi Gras Planning Task Force. You don’t want to spend Mardi Gras at a crowded hospital, and you know what happens at the Convention Center. So let’s relax this year.
Have fun this weekend and next week. Enjoy the things about New Orleans that you missed first semester. Be with your friends, wear your purple, green and gold-stripped polo shirts, eat gumbo and learn how to peal a crawfish. You need it. We all do.
Laurén Bienvenue can be reached at [email protected].
