Hundreds of thousands of people descend on New Orleans in February for the Carnival season. Last year, city officials estimated 750,000 to 800,000 people attended Mardi Gras. Its a BIG deal around here.
Its actually an unspoken rule that you NEED a ladder to watch the parade. Why? There are so many people lining the streets, you NEED one to be able to see anything!
Think they do this at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade? I doubt it. This is New Orleans, and we make our OWN viewing stands!
With this many people milling about, nature’s gonna be making some calls. Bathrooms are almost non-existent in the few blocks around my house. A group of college kids actually set up a porta-potty on the corner of my street last year. They charged a dollar per use, and I’m betting they banked hundreds of dollars by the time Mardi Gras was over.
Lines to use it were always long, but lucky for their patrons, the boys also had kegs of beer on hand for sale. They got you coming and going...literally.
Point being, there are FAR more people than there are facilities to accommodate. Some aren’t willing to wait, or pay, or find another appropriate place to take care of business. They decide to take a walk down one of the side streets looking for a bush, or a nook. That’s where my house comes in. Its the first place you come to after leaving the parade route that has a partially secluded place to go.
I’m not calling out just the frat boys here either. Most seem to be college age, but I caught middle-agers, some with grey hair, men, women, black, and white. Of the ones I caught last year, the majority were simply embarrassed that they had been caught, packed up, and moved on down the street. But there were others who were confrontational! How dare I tell someone not to urinate on my house!?!?
This year, I’ll be taking a different approach. Take a look at The Plan! page to see what I have in store for them this year!
