Parade Time

Everyone loves a parade! I was in a parade this weekend in Georgetown. When you are in a parade, you always have to be there really early to WAIT, WAIT and WAIT. It is the same theory as when you go in for surgery---they want to be sure you don't chicken out, so they make you get there way early, as if you were an my grandma going to dinner at Luby's. So, I got there a good hour before the parade began. Then, when it starts, it goes quickly, unless you are the unlucky folks right behind the retired dancing folks who "dance" with lawn chairs very slowly as the same two minute song plays over and over about two thousand times, which isn't the least bit annoying! We were ahead of them this year, so we got to move a little more quickly. The other part of a parade that folks never discuss is giving out the goodies. In Georgetown, they insist you have folks walk along the route and give out the candy---no throwing! This is very unpopular and some folks ignore it. I remember one year when my daughter was younger, she was not really into throwing the candy since she preferred to eat it, so she would eat three pieces and then throw one. The one she threw had an unfortunate consequence since she forgot to aim low. She hit some kid square in the eye, which is really not something the parade organizers covet. They came over to our float and told me sternly, "No throwing or you will have to leave!" Luckily, we did not get bounced out of the parade, but I had to have her just eat the rest of the candy...which was not really a big deal as candy and French fries are two of the major food groups to her!