The French Quarter Stroll
I've been incredibly busy for the past two weeks. I had a team presentation and a team paper to write, I've been working to master statistics (did quite well on the final this past Saturday, thankyouverymuch), and I've been going to more real estate training. So it's been 12-18 hour days, which I wouldn't mind so much if cash compensation were involved somehow. But of course, I've been doing it all for free.
However, it's all finished and I now begin a two week break before the next set of classes. After all that excitement, though, I do find myself in a bit of a funk today. Realizing I'm about to hit the 13 month anniversary of my unemployment with no substantive prospects on the horizon doesn't help. And now the New Orleans summer heat has hit town just in time for Jazz Fest. After eighteen months in San Francisco, I'd forgotten what a hot and humid summer feels like.
I may have mentioned that D and I have taken a share in a French Quarter apartment with his brother and two sisters. Last weekend was our weekend for the apartment. I've been looking forward to it because it's a chance for me to see what it's like to live in the French Quarter. And I've already discovered the bane of French Quarter life (aside from the drunks, thieves, drug dealers, and whores): the French Quarter stroll (henceforth, the FQ stroll).
The FQ stroll is the pace and manner used by tourists as they walk through the French Quarter. The FQ stroll is, by definition, slow. Meandering. Aimless. It can be drunken. A FQ stroller usually strolls with at least one other person, although they've been observed strolling in herds. Keeping to one side of the sidewalk is not part of the FQ stroll - a good stroll requires taking the ENTIRE sidewalk and strolling down any who come your way or blocking any who wish to pass from behind.
Combine the FQ stroll with a baby stroller and you have hell on earth.
Variants of the FQ stroll include:
Huffing and making annoyed comments won't shame the FQ strollers into speeding up or making room, they'll simply slow down even more. The best tactic to counter the FQ stroll is to walk in the street. This is when you need to adapt the "car dodging" and "buggy avoiding" tactics I'll discuss in a future post.
I've been incredibly busy for the past two weeks. I had a team presentation and a team paper to write, I've been working to master statistics (did quite well on the final this past Saturday, thankyouverymuch), and I've been going to more real estate training. So it's been 12-18 hour days, which I wouldn't mind so much if cash compensation were involved somehow. But of course, I've been doing it all for free.
However, it's all finished and I now begin a two week break before the next set of classes. After all that excitement, though, I do find myself in a bit of a funk today. Realizing I'm about to hit the 13 month anniversary of my unemployment with no substantive prospects on the horizon doesn't help. And now the New Orleans summer heat has hit town just in time for Jazz Fest. After eighteen months in San Francisco, I'd forgotten what a hot and humid summer feels like.
I may have mentioned that D and I have taken a share in a French Quarter apartment with his brother and two sisters. Last weekend was our weekend for the apartment. I've been looking forward to it because it's a chance for me to see what it's like to live in the French Quarter. And I've already discovered the bane of French Quarter life (aside from the drunks, thieves, drug dealers, and whores): the French Quarter stroll (henceforth, the FQ stroll).
The FQ stroll is the pace and manner used by tourists as they walk through the French Quarter. The FQ stroll is, by definition, slow. Meandering. Aimless. It can be drunken. A FQ stroller usually strolls with at least one other person, although they've been observed strolling in herds. Keeping to one side of the sidewalk is not part of the FQ stroll - a good stroll requires taking the ENTIRE sidewalk and strolling down any who come your way or blocking any who wish to pass from behind.
Combine the FQ stroll with a baby stroller and you have hell on earth.
Variants of the FQ stroll include:
- The widebody FQ stroll. Two of our heftier tourists stroll so that although they don't take up the entire sidewalk, they space themselves abreast on the sidewalk in a way that accomplishes the same affect.
- The darting FQ stroll. Practicioners of this stroll, having already slowed you down as you try to pass, suddenly stop in their tracks as they decide they're not on the right street and need to execute a mid-course correction. Care must be taken to avoid a rear-end collision.
- The opening door FQ stroll. This is typically seen when a heard leaves a store and exits en masse onto the sidewalk, strolling over any who may be in their path. Frequently observed on Decataur Street.
- The blocking FQ stroll. A combination of the darting and opening door FQ stroll. Having left a store, these folks simply park themselves on the sidewalk, usually in a line across the width of the sidewalk, as they decide where they're going to next.
Huffing and making annoyed comments won't shame the FQ strollers into speeding up or making room, they'll simply slow down even more. The best tactic to counter the FQ stroll is to walk in the street. This is when you need to adapt the "car dodging" and "buggy avoiding" tactics I'll discuss in a future post.
