Mt. Greenwoods Annual Disruption

They had the big Southside Irish Parade yesterday. I didn't quite make it, and have only gone once. If they had it @ a respectible hour, instead of NOON, maybe i'd go more often.. I years past, I'd be coming home late on the bus and only the mass amout of beer cand and debries streching --no lie-- two miles down 103d and 111th from Western to Pulaski. You can't park anywhere near Western, so people park a mile or two away, then walk back after.

Even though I've lived in this 'hood since July, 1991, I like it:

1)Western Avenue is a great nitetime place (( What are you doing to-nite? I'm going to Western Avenue. )) with the best Irish bars in the city (sorry for all this Irish stuff lately, but it is the season). Its basically the only time my neighbourhood is ever in the news. I can only seem to remember one other time: two outs in the bottom of the ninth in game four of the 2005 World Series- Mt. Greenwood was one of the few hoods mentioned in the "they've waited so long" speech.
2)The street flooded by drunk people dressed in green. Maybe not quite the streets of Manhatten or Mumbai, but tens of thousands of peoples all over. Street vendors, families, teenagers, old people, and blasted drunks. The picture above doesn't do the density justice.
3)Open liquor on the streets. Go ahead, as long as yr 21, you can drink rite in front of the police.
4)Parties lasting all nite, all over the place : people mill through the neighbourhood until I sleep, and I'm sure after as well.
5) Staggering drunx.