No, Thank You
A couple of my friends asked me if I was going to drive down to Houston for the NBA All-Star weekend.
My answer? “Oh Heeeeeellll No!” *
*to be delivered much in the way UPN Girlfriends’ Maya delivers the last line of her book, Oh Hell Yes.
Then I tell them, “I lived through Atlanta All-Star Weekend.”
Perhaps some of my Atlanta friends had fun that weekend, or stayed at home most of that weekend, so they have different views. Perhaps they look at the weekend optimistically, thinking of only the advantages: meeting celebs like Boris Kudjoe at the Cheesecake Factory, the tons of money that pours into the local economy, and the extravagant parties such as “The Fur Party” (why there was a Fur Party in 40-degree is beyond me).
However, they are forgetting the main theme of All-Star Weekend: BLACK. Blacks Looking & Acting Crazy & Krunk. ( Nice try for an acronym, right?) Better yet, it’s more like Black Folks Acting Extra Black. Black to the Nth. Black to the Infinity.
I love my Black people, but folks just look and act a fool during All-Star weekend. And Houston is one of those cities where there are enough Black people (and other minorities) to recreate the crazy scene that was Atlanta. With Houston being a hot city in hip-hop, and all the extra Black people from New Orleans living there… oh Hell Yes! It will be a wild and perhaps disgruntling time.
For those who wonder what happens… here are a few important points that I took with me from my experience:
-It takes at least three times as long to get anywhere. Traffic is the ABSOLUTE worst, especially if you are traveling to someplace everyone is going (such as the mall). I knew a guy who took almost 2 hours going 5 miles up GA 400. Also traffic is diverted in evil and cruel ways. Lesson learned: public transportation is a must!
-You basically have to be a baller to truly enjoy yourself. The best parties are designed to keep the lowly poor folk out (you mean I have to pay $175 to get in AND wear a fur coat??) Lesson learned: make more money.
-Most people come for the parties/social scene, not the NBA events. So that means basically, during the day, tons of people flock to the malls. And you know black folks… dressed for the club in the mall! Weave, nails, tight shirts, short skirts (knowing it is winter), from the ghetto fab to the bourgeois… you see it all. Lesson Learned: Look in the mirror before you leave the house? Just say no?
-More on the mall (since that is where I was that whole weekend working): The mall was packed beyond capacity, and was shut down both Saturday and Sunday. Its hard to imagine how many people were crowded into that mall; it was unreal, unlike anything I have ever seen and may never see again. You know Black folk… walking around the mall not really buying. So what happened at Lenox is that people decided to “post up”. There were people 4 and 5 rows deep “posted up” on available space such as the store windows and hallways, kind of like stadium seating or something. So this means the actual walkway was much smaller. Best believe it was also packed to capacity, like those folks who run with the bulls in Spain. Throngs of people moving like a stream through the tight space. Folks being loud, folks snapping pics of celebrities. Of course it is not an easy environment to be in.
By Sunday, it was out of hand and tired. I remember going to grab lunch for my coworkers at CPK. As we are walking, we notice a mob of men surrounding a kiosk cart. Some have money in their hands. Upon closer inspection, we see more of Black Folks Looking a Mess – a woman has climbed ONTO the kiosk cart and is dancing. Now, how can that EVER be right?
20 minutes later, we are at CPK gathering food. For those who have been in Lenox, at this location in the mall you can look up and see the top level. Well, we look up and see TONS of people running away from something. And you know Black Folks.. one person runs, we all run. So basically a race to get out of the mall occurred. This wasn’t just one group of people. Probably half of the people in the entire mall – most just following the crowd – began to run, not knowing WHAT they were running from. We return back to work; after this crazy incident, folks are assuming the worst and places start closing. We find out that someone waved a gun around. In the friggin mall. Lesson learned: People act too crazy at All-Star Weekend!
To all who have decided to travel to H-Town for the weekend – be careful, be safe, and be sure not to be caught perpetuating a stereotype!
My answer? “Oh Heeeeeellll No!” *
*to be delivered much in the way UPN Girlfriends’ Maya delivers the last line of her book, Oh Hell Yes.
Then I tell them, “I lived through Atlanta All-Star Weekend.”
Perhaps some of my Atlanta friends had fun that weekend, or stayed at home most of that weekend, so they have different views. Perhaps they look at the weekend optimistically, thinking of only the advantages: meeting celebs like Boris Kudjoe at the Cheesecake Factory, the tons of money that pours into the local economy, and the extravagant parties such as “The Fur Party” (why there was a Fur Party in 40-degree is beyond me).
However, they are forgetting the main theme of All-Star Weekend: BLACK. Blacks Looking & Acting Crazy & Krunk. ( Nice try for an acronym, right?) Better yet, it’s more like Black Folks Acting Extra Black. Black to the Nth. Black to the Infinity.
I love my Black people, but folks just look and act a fool during All-Star weekend. And Houston is one of those cities where there are enough Black people (and other minorities) to recreate the crazy scene that was Atlanta. With Houston being a hot city in hip-hop, and all the extra Black people from New Orleans living there… oh Hell Yes! It will be a wild and perhaps disgruntling time.
For those who wonder what happens… here are a few important points that I took with me from my experience:
-It takes at least three times as long to get anywhere. Traffic is the ABSOLUTE worst, especially if you are traveling to someplace everyone is going (such as the mall). I knew a guy who took almost 2 hours going 5 miles up GA 400. Also traffic is diverted in evil and cruel ways. Lesson learned: public transportation is a must!
-You basically have to be a baller to truly enjoy yourself. The best parties are designed to keep the lowly poor folk out (you mean I have to pay $175 to get in AND wear a fur coat??) Lesson learned: make more money.
-Most people come for the parties/social scene, not the NBA events. So that means basically, during the day, tons of people flock to the malls. And you know black folks… dressed for the club in the mall! Weave, nails, tight shirts, short skirts (knowing it is winter), from the ghetto fab to the bourgeois… you see it all. Lesson Learned: Look in the mirror before you leave the house? Just say no?
-More on the mall (since that is where I was that whole weekend working): The mall was packed beyond capacity, and was shut down both Saturday and Sunday. Its hard to imagine how many people were crowded into that mall; it was unreal, unlike anything I have ever seen and may never see again. You know Black folk… walking around the mall not really buying. So what happened at Lenox is that people decided to “post up”. There were people 4 and 5 rows deep “posted up” on available space such as the store windows and hallways, kind of like stadium seating or something. So this means the actual walkway was much smaller. Best believe it was also packed to capacity, like those folks who run with the bulls in Spain. Throngs of people moving like a stream through the tight space. Folks being loud, folks snapping pics of celebrities. Of course it is not an easy environment to be in.
By Sunday, it was out of hand and tired. I remember going to grab lunch for my coworkers at CPK. As we are walking, we notice a mob of men surrounding a kiosk cart. Some have money in their hands. Upon closer inspection, we see more of Black Folks Looking a Mess – a woman has climbed ONTO the kiosk cart and is dancing. Now, how can that EVER be right?
20 minutes later, we are at CPK gathering food. For those who have been in Lenox, at this location in the mall you can look up and see the top level. Well, we look up and see TONS of people running away from something. And you know Black Folks.. one person runs, we all run. So basically a race to get out of the mall occurred. This wasn’t just one group of people. Probably half of the people in the entire mall – most just following the crowd – began to run, not knowing WHAT they were running from. We return back to work; after this crazy incident, folks are assuming the worst and places start closing. We find out that someone waved a gun around. In the friggin mall. Lesson learned: People act too crazy at All-Star Weekend!
To all who have decided to travel to H-Town for the weekend – be careful, be safe, and be sure not to be caught perpetuating a stereotype!
posted by T @ 10:57 PM
1 Comments:
At 5:10 PM,
enigma said…
Fooks...if I had your number I would leave you message with only my hysterical laughter at your blog. Laughing @ black folks acting extra black !!!!!!!!!!!!
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