New Orleans

I was speaking the other day to a man who found out that I used to live in New Orleans.  This man had visited New Orleans on several occasions and for the next 10 minutes he led me on a tour of the most uninteresting conversation ever had about any city...in the world.

Below is our amazing conversation:

Man:  Where did you live before moving to Des Moines?

Me:  We’ve lived here 12 years, but lived in New Orleans for 3 years prior to that.

Man:  Oh, New Orleans?  I went to New Orleans a few times when I was in the service.

Me:  Oh, ok.

Man:  New Orleans is a great city.

Me:  Yeah, we loved it.

Man:  Cafe’ Du Monde.  (This is said as a simple statement...just a statement...no     question or further comment is made...this is followed by silence)

Me:  (I’m confused)  Yeah, Cafe’ Du Monde is great.  We loved going there and just people watching.

Man:  How about that Lake....Lake um...what’s that lake?

Me:  Lake Pontchartrain.  We lived pretty close to Lake Pontchartrain.

Man:  Isn’t there a bridge that sits on the water over the lake?

Me:  Uhm...Not actually on the water...but there is a bridge that goes over the water...from one side to the other.  It’s a pretty big lake - you can’t see across from one side to the other.

Man:  That is pretty cool!  How about that French Quarter!??  Man!!  ...Bourbon Street??  (this is said with a raise of the eyebrows...I’m creeped out a bit)

Me:  Yeah, the French Quarter is pretty interesting...

Man:  They got a lot of Jazz down there, huh?

Me:  Yep.  Lots of Jazz.  

Man:  Pretty hot down there...

Me:  Yep.

Man:  They’ve got good food.  I can’t do that crawfish though...or gumbo...or jambalaya, but other than that...

Me:  Oh, sure...other than that.
(I’m pretty sure I blacked out at this point.  I don’t remember much after this.)

You’ve had this conversation before too, right?  Sometimes we find ourselves trapped in a conversation that just isn’t going to go anywhere.  I found myself screaming on the inside, for it to stop.  I was hoping for some type of natural disaster to break up the monotony.  I wondered about the possibility of a sudden heart attack...for either of us.  But, alas...help didn’t come.

Chris Farley used to do a skit on “Saturday Night Live” where he interviewed celebrities.  The entirety of the skit was him basically saying to the celebrity, “Remember that time when ___________...’member when you said ________?”  That’s how I felt during this conversation.  This guy just kept saying facts and statements about a city.  Other than just inventing stories for fun...all I could say was...”yep, the Mississippi River is in New Orleans.”  

Riveting conversation.

I hope you found this blog riveting as well. 

Remember when he said “other than that”?  

JJ

On a side note...New Orleans is a great city.  Go there any time that you have the opportunity - you’ll love it...they’ve got jazz.