Not even one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States could dampen the enthusiasm of some revelers determined to cavort in the streets of the ravaged city of New Orleans:
"You know a city has legs when three or four dozen of them are parading down Bourbon Street
— some clad in tutus and grass skirts — six days after the most damaging hurricane in American history.[…]
"The [‘Southern Decadence’ parade] event always manages to be held the Sunday before Labor Day. This time, of course, the circumstances were different.
"Water covered the upper northwest quadrant of the Quarter, roughly from Conti to Canal streets, between Bourbon and North Rampart.
"There was no power or water, and only hints of the kinds of food made legendary at venues such as Brennan’s or Galatoire’s. Both of those restaurants seemed relatively unscathed, as did many of the structures on the riverside end of the district, its highest elevation.
"But the Quarter was far from its famously lively and carefree self. National Guard and police were everywhere to keep the peace and stop looting. Helicopters buzzed overhead as the evacuation of the city proceeded."
Thousands may be dead, perhaps over a million are refugees, and all these people can think about is partying in the storm-drenched streets? In the epitome of tastelessness, the article mentions that one woman was spotted wearing a T-shirt inscribed with the words "I survived Hurricane Katrina and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
Well, at least this person survived. In case she hadn’t noticed, she was far luckier than many others and, instead of honoring the dead, was all but dancing on their graves.
Well, I don’t approve of the occasion, but having a parade go on in spite of circumstances is not necessarily the worst thing. If things are terrible, you need things that are normal, and you need cultural events. There is something to say for having wakes and for using black humor to get through the grief and horror.
That T-shirt wasn’t about insulting the dead. It was about being defiant in the face of Death and Katrina. It was about telling the world that, though many people did die, many people were still alive and so was New Orleans.
So yeah, the whole thing was stupid and tacky, and yeah, I’m sure some of those folks could have better moral values. But the French Quarter’s acted as an organized neighborhood, for which I give them props. And the photo of that ragged little parade made me want to cheer. It was a picture of Hope.