Socially isolated in the South’s least isolated city. Original story at The Bitter Southerner.
More than good food or drinks, we treasure the ability to partake of such pleasures with our friends. And that’s been robbed of us. The Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs that conduct our second lines, neighborhood parades that kick off every weekend outside of summer, are now practicing social distancing. It is getting into crawfish season, and it feels wholly unnatural to eat these crustaceans outside of a well-attended boil. I’ll eat a bottom dwelling river insect anytime, but it really helps the experience when there’s newspaper on the table, friends and family milling about, a keg on ice, and music blasting out of a speaker.
Having a communal good time is the particular New Orleans response to an emergency. You know how we get through hurricanes? Not the ones we have to evacuate for, but the run of the mill Cat 3s that aren’t worth booking a Ramada in Jackson? We have hurricane parties. We buy bottles of whiskey and rum and cases of High Life, grab the kids, head to a friend’s house, and have a sleepover. When Entergy gets the power back on, it’s back to living life as distinct family units, but for those hours of lashing rain and elemental uncertainty, we find strength in the village.
Then there’s Mardi Gras, our most iconic holiday. Christmas and Thanksgiving are generally celebrated by individual families, or maybe several families at once, but I cannot comprehend experiencing Mardi Gras and Carnival as anything less than a citywide celebration. I think back on the 2020 party, when I ran around with a bag of wine literally pouring it down willing people’s throats, and then read about experts saying Mardi Gras celebrations hastened COVID-19’s spread throughout Orleans parish. Well, yeah. Our way of life was as ill prepared for this pandemic as our physical infrastructure is for snow days. The COVID-19 response demands self-denial and isolation, and this is a city built on personal enjoyment and sociability.
Full story at The Bitter Southerner
All photos on this page by Adam Karlin