Oct 27, 2009
Busted! in New Orleans
While in New Orleans last week for Pete Alton and Mary Guilliams' wedding, we had the awesome opportunity to witness an awkward arrest by mounted police in the French Quarter.
This chubby lady on the right led two cops on horseback to the scene of the crime. Naturally, I followed them for four blocks to figure out what was going on.
I walked across the street to get a better look. My friend Spencer Grammer (she took these arrest photos) started taking pictures of me for some reason instead of the interesting scene I was watching: two shop owners forcibly yanked out a guy in a blue shirt. One of the cops tilted over like one of those balanced top-hatted martini birds to put the guy in cuffs. Neither cop ever got off their horse.
Eventually, Spencer came over and joined me, getting a better view. I was very curious about what was going on so I went over to the hot dog guy (you can see the top of his hat, above left) and asked. He told me that the dude in cuffs wanted to buy a hot dog from him. But the hot dog guy didn't have change for a hundred dollar bill. So the dude went into the shop to use the ATM. When it wouldn't give him money, he understandably got upset. He really wanted a hot dog! So he did what anyone would do who really wanted a hot dog and couldn't get the correct change – he violently kicked in the ATM machine, destroying it. That's when the store owners detained him and the chubby lady went out into the streets looking for some cops on horseback (I enjoy the idea that she ignored a couple cops who weren't on horseback on the way, though it's unlikely).
So, of course, all of this made for an awesome group photo opportunity! The hot dog guy, who now felt like my close friend, decided to pose with us.
On the way home, we saw this dog in a bar.
The next day, I pressed this alligator to my face.
And of course, even later, Pete and Mary got married and there was dancing in the streets.
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