For the sake of a few worthless beads

There are some things we know about human nature, and yet when we see them in real life they still startle us. I know the story of the sell of Manhattan by the native Americans for a few beads. I have watched people at state fairs spend lots of money to win Teddy Bears for their sweethearts. I know the competitive nature of human beings, but I was still shocked and disgusted at the pure passion and inhumanity of the quest for beads in New Orleans and the Mardi Gras parades.

The first experience was standing behind the barrier, watching the parade go by, and being leaped on from behind by a middle aged man in a nice sweater and pants, in order to try to catch a string of beads thrown by one of the characters on a float. He continued to push, shove, jump over the top of people in front of him for the entire parade. It did not matter to him whether they were elderly, women, children, or disabled. He was going to gather and get as many strings of beads as he could.

Later the same day, there came a second parade and I was next to a young black woman who told me this was her first time at the Mardi Gras celebrations. She was going to get herself some beads. I was waving and cheering and catching whatever came my way. Since she was next to me, those beads were coming near her. She started to complain that I was taking all her beads so I stopped trying to catch beads and let her catch what came near us. At one point she and another woman caught the same string of beads, and this young woman ripped them so hard from the other woman that the string broke. Then the young black woman lost interest in that string of beads and let them drop to the ground. This young woman did not seem to understand the parade. When the marching bands came by, she would yell at them with great hostility, "Where are your beads?" as if the bands were supposed to throw beads as well.

This passion for beads was only preparation for the scene on Bourbon Street where some women in the street are so eager for strings of beads that they will expose themselves to the people on the balconies who will then give beads as a reward.

In the play A Man for All Seasons, when Thomas More is being lead off to be beheaded, he says to the man who lied to convict him, The Scriptures say that we are to be pitied if we gain the whole world, and lose our souls. All you got was Wales. In New Orleans it was amazing to me to see how quickly and all consuming the passion could become for beads that people would lose their common courtesy and humanity for a few beads that are absolutely worthless. To gain a handful of beads, and lose all sense of value, respect, courtesy and dignity. (Oh, and it is not necessary, one can gather up a nice collection of beads just by hanging around.) I enjoyed the parades, the shouting and waving and trying to catch the flying "throws" so I am not against the fun, and there were others who did kind things like give the stuff animal throws to small children, but it is scary how all consuming the passion for something worthless could become.