Arrests were down by a third this year for Mardi Gras. It doesn't seem that there was any less of the activity that would normally get you taken away by New Orleans' Finest, but that the police were in a more friendly space due to the Saints finally winning a Super Bowl after over four decades of anguish, and almost losing the team to San Antonio after Hurricane Katrina. During that post-game celebration, police were reportedly dancing in the streets with the citizenry, and that seemed to carry over to Carnival celebrations right into Mardi Gras Day.
Because of health issues, I had used some acid to help me get through Mardi Gras '07 and '09. This year I was unable to find any and ventured out without even any grass.
I had struggled to get through my jaunt with Krewedelusion to open Carnival, but was helped greatly when a young New York tourist showed up next to me and asked if the Krewe du Jieux were really Jews. As we chatted, he fired up a fair-sized doobie, and myself and other ramblers in delusion formed a circle and made quick work of the tasty herb. That enabled me to film my favorite Big Greasy brass band, Panorama, and got me through the rest of the parade.
The old tradition about Mardi Gras that used to have a ring of truth was all non-violent laws were suspended and you were allowed to do pretty much anything that was within reason. I remember the first Mardi Gras I attended without parental supervision as a teenager. I had entered the previously forbidden Vieux Carre and came upon a couple literally doing it in the road, surrounded by a crowd cheering them on. That was then and this is now. Things have changed. Since my return to New Orleans a couple of decades ago, the police have been rather petty and some downright abusive of their petty position of power.
But this Mardi Gras was different. Sure, outlying areas of the city still look like Nuclear Winter, but the people and the police seemed to be operating on a different level. The grind or recovery has been a real downer, but somehow it would seem that people who didn't care a farthing for football got swept up by the Team of Destiny, and that lifted everyone's spirit, apparently including the police's.
So joints were shared more freely and openly without repercussions as it should be on Mardi Gras. It would not have surprised me if a policeman had shown up with bad intentions and someone had said to him, "Who Dat says we can't toke a doob?" He might just have joined us in celebrating.
