Sober Kids in India

One of the great things about New York City is that at any given time, somewhere, some group is celebrating something. And unless your religious or other affiliation prohibits it, most likely you are welcome to join in.

Religious or secular, many need very little reason to party, as perhaps was the case yesterday evening with the person at the head of the line waiting to get into this bar. When I asked him what the line was for, he had no idea and apparently no interest in finding out. His response was rather perplexing, since both inside and outside the bar it was obviously a Mexican themed celebration - Cinco de Mayo, to be specific. Confetti was fluttering in the air, and people were outfitted in traditional Mexican costumes. The bar was bursting at the seams and overflowing into the street.

The bar is located on University Place in the Village, no stranger to partying. Just down the block is New York University, which has had the distinction of making Princeton Review's "top party school" top 20 ranking.

Growing up in a poorer and work oriented environment, at times there is a tiny nagging feeling that festivals, parties and parades are a capricious unnecessary extravagance. This is money and energy that might be put to "better" use for those in need. I wrote about this and the need for human celebration on June 13, 2008, in Let's Have a Parade.

Growing up as a child, I often heard the cliched "Finish your dinner, there are children starving in Africa." For some of the celebrants last night, the admonition might better be an analogous one I have seen bandied about: Finish your beer, there are sober kids in India :)

Note: Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a holiday held on May 5. Not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day on September 16, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. In an unlikely victory, 4,000 Mexican soldiers defeated a much larger (8,000 soldiers) and better-equipped French army. The holiday has very limited recognition in Mexico - it is primarily an American celebration with its roots in California in the 1860s.