Monday, May 19, 2008
Long Beach Pride - Not unlike a zoo
I went with some friends yesterday to the Long Beach Pride Festival. It was my first time attending it. Overall it was… intersteresting. It was like going to the zoo. There were so many colorful people strutting around with mohawks, piercings, pink hair, fishnet clothing, and short shorts. I have never seen so many nipple rings in my life. There was a little bit of everything there, and one of the best places to go to people watch. There was always some interesting scenery. This photo isn’t so great since I only had my phone, but this woman’s “top” consists of one square HRC sticker on each breast. She was happy and bouncy in more ways than one.
There was no shortage of drama either. Quite early in the afternoon, while we were resting in some shade near the medical tent, we saw this guy passed out on the grass. I don’t mean he was taking a quick nap on a blanket. The guy had collapsed flat on his face, completely drunk off his ass. His friend hovered around like a helpless gnat, not sure what to do. The EMTs came out of the tent and tried to help. For ten minutes they hovered around him, trying to wake him up. That’s when the intoxicated screaming began.
I’ve never heard a man make noises like that. I’m not sure what was going through his head (probably something like, “Oh my god kill me now.") but he was shrieking like a banshee. Soon a bicycle cop arrived, then another one. Every few minutes the number of policemen doubled until there were about eight of them standing around this poor fellow… doing absolutely nothing really. Supervising I guess. There was more screaming, some shouting from one of the bigger EMTs, and lots and lots of looky-loos with cameras. This guy is so going to be on hundreds of blogs today.
After about 15 minutes of this, they finally manage to haul his ass into the medical tent. More shrieking from the big drunk guy. Ten minutes later an ambulance finally arrives and it takes eight burly men to lift him up onto the gurney. The spectacle is finally over. Darn.
We missed the parade, and we’re not really much into the indy music scene, so there wasn’t much else to do but browse shops, which were disappointingly not varied. Really, how many booths filled with cheap-ass sunglasses can you possibly sell? Overall it was a disappointing experience. The $20 entry fee was pretty steep, food was kind of expensive, and it was really hot with little shade. Luckily we didn’t drive ourselves, or there would have been a $15 parking fee too. Somebody’s making oodles of money on this event.
What did we learn from this experience? Stuff we already knew, but forgot:
- Most outdoor events after April are going to be hot.
- If it might be fun and enjoyable, it’ll probably cost you more cash than you realized.
- Crowds are annoying.
- Seems like half the gay population smoke like chimneys.
- Staying at home is so much nicer than going to outdoor events.
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Categories: • Sometimes I have a life