Philadelphia and Kansas Metropolis performed Sunday in Tremendous Bowl LIX — nicely, no less than Philadelphia did — however the aura surrounding the sport was all about New Orleans and Los Angeles.
The Large Simple gave everybody the proper the place: the Superdome, Bourbon Avenue, massive bands, beads, parades and music for miles. The why was for Los Angeles, a response to final month’s devastating wind and hearth that burned practically 100 sq. miles, upending tons of of hundreds of lives in only a few brief weeks. There was the pregame present parade of stars lengthy related to Hollywood, from Brad Pitt to Tom Cruise; within the stands had been of us like Paul Rudd and Anne Hathaway. After which Compton’s personal, Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick Lamar strode onstage for the halftime present, ending together with his latest Grammy-winning tune “Not Like Us.”
New Orleans’ message for Lamar and all of L.A. was clear: You will be identical to us.
Almost 20 years have handed since Hurricane Katrina tore via New Orleans in August 2005, when devastating wind and water overwhelmed town. The Superdome itself, New Orleans’ “front room,” was battered however nonetheless supplied shelter to greater than 10,000 individuals unable to get out forward of the storm.
Properly earlier than Katrina, Tennessee Williams supposedly as soon as joked that New Orleans was one in all “solely three cities” in America, and “all the pieces else is Cleveland.” After Katrina, may town come again?
It has. Possibly not precisely the identical. Possibly not totally intact. However the essence, the soul of town, it’s nonetheless there — the great occasions roll as soon as once more. Laissez les bon temps rouler. And the soul of town will not be arduous to seek out. Simply discuss to an area for 5 minutes.
Like my buddy’s Aunt Betsy. Whereas visiting New Orleans not too long ago, at brunch I sat subsequent to her. She’s lived her life in New Orleans and wouldn’t have it another means. She made a case for the meals, saying that elsewhere individuals simply “eat to dwell,” however in New Orleans they “dwell to eat.”
Come on, I assumed. A buddy joked to me that New Orleans is “both the best-run metropolis within the Caribbean, or the worst-run metropolis in America.” There are graffiti and potholes, and blue tarps on a lot of homes. I noticed a cat-sized useless rat.
However even Katrina couldn’t kill the tradition. It’s catastrophe resistant. It grew again, and can all the time develop again, which is why this metropolis’s message is precisely what Los Angeles wants to listen to proper now.
The soul of New Orleans continues to be primarily oral. They’ve obtained so many good phrases. Faubourg. Hubig’s. Impartial floor. Rougarou. CheeWees. Bourbon Avenue gravy. Po’boy (dressed). Fleur-de-lis. Sazerac. Krewe. Tchoupitoulas. (Warning: Some may trigger a ChatGPT meltdown.)
They even combat over methods to pronounce the darn metropolis’s title. Some pitch down the center with “New Or-LEENS.” A number of gussy it up with a “New Or-LEE-ANNS.” Others soiled it down with “Nawlins.” Some may discover that off-putting, however I believe it’s nice. It exhibits they care.
Some New Orleanians could also be wealthy, however cash doesn’t matter a lot right here. The peasants eat like kings. Cafe Du Monde: open 24 hours a day for beignets, money solely. Parkway for po’boys, particularly the roast beef. Turkey and the Wolf sells one of the best Reuben sandwich in America (and it’s meatless, made with collard greens). Or Hansen’s Sno-Bliz for a scorching day, 86 years operating — so you may “air situation your tummy.” All these rough-cut delicacies will set you again lower than a ten-spot.
Tradition is for everybody. Music and menu-making are mass-spread contagion actions that transmit tradition. Welcome the world by doing one thing nowhere else does.
And coronary heart is the cherry on prime of all of it. On the best way out of city, Aunt Betsy went out of her approach to drop off an infinite tin of pralines (“PRAW-leens,” by the best way, undoubtedly not “PRAY-leens”). It was that final little contact. The heat. The kindness. Or was it a little bit little bit of a gross sales pitch for her beloved metropolis? I can’t say, however the pralines are gone and I’m very, very comfortable.
So what can LA supply to L.A.? What can the swamp train the seaside? What can the Metropolis of Saints inform the Metropolis of Angels after final month’s devastating fires?
You possibly can’t maintain a very good metropolis down. You’ll be again up, and shortly. And no matter makes L.A. one in all a form, lean in to that.
From New Orleans to Los Angeles: You will be identical to us.
ML Cavanaugh is the creator of the forthcoming e book “Finest Scar Wins: How You Can Be Extra Than You Had been Earlier than.” @MLCavanaugh
