Sunday, June 24, 2012

Parading Around Town

I don't know how it happened but we are a family that loves parades. We have been known in the past to stand outside for hours in below freezing temps just to see Scooby Doo walk past us and wave. It's seems like there is a parade a month around where we live.

There's the Handy Festival parade. The street strut the next morning. The Tuscumbia, Sheffield, Florence, and Muscle Shoals homecoming parades. Plus the nearby university has one. Each city also has a Christmas parade. This week the Helen Keller festival kicked off with a parade. We've been to them all and stayed to the very last horse and buggy past by.

When taking the kids to a parade there are two important things to consider. Where you stand and who you stand by. The last place you want to be is at the end of the route holding a spiderman Halloween bucket only to discover all the candy had been thrown out long before the final turn. The best place to stand for maximum candy collection is about a block from the start. The people in the parade try to conserve the candy at the start so they don't run out, but after a few minutes they get into it themselves and the snickers start raining down fast and furious.

Picking who you stand by is almost important if not more than where you stand. There are basically three types of people to avoid being by:

The Greedy Grabber- Kids are there to get candy and apparently for some it's the only chance they have all year of doing so. The Greedy Grabber throws all rules of society out the window and will push, shove, kick, and run you down for a cracked piece of peppermint. If you want candy of your own avoid this person at all costs.

The Narrator- " Coming up here is a two tone, six horse power, diesel, twin turbine hemy driven by the best friend of the second cousin of the guy sitting three rows behind Lincoln when Booth snuck up behind him" Kinda like this post The Narrator goes on and on about nothing. Thankfully the sirens from an endless string of fire trucks drowns him out for two seconds. If you find yourself next to a combo Greedy Narrator just pack up and move on down the line.

Granny- This last type is everyones Granny and just came to see smiling faces. Granny is an agent for all that is good in America and will give you every piece of candy that falls in front of her.

Parades are made for good times and nobody likes good times more than we do judging by the number we go to. If you have a parade within driving distance message and I'm sure we will come running

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