I have the privilege (or the curse) of working in the French Quarter. I'm there every day, working around one of our city's biggest industries – tourism and have come to notice that some things will always be a constant in the French Quarter – like grown men walking around with fluorescent green drinks in ostentatious plastic cups or bachelor parties and weddings. And then other things tend to come and go, gain in popularity and then fade away.
So here we go with a few summer French Quarter trends.
1. Pokemon Go – First and foremost, Pokemon Go has turned a kid's game – meant to get them out and walking around, combating obesity – into a drinking game. Just last weekend, a few people came into my restaurant saying they'd been up since 9 a.m. doing a bar crawl, while playing Pokemon Go. I love New Orleans. And that isn't sarcasm folks. Now, what is Pokemon Go exactly? I'm still not entirely sure, but I have caught a few of them. I have a squirtle! Haven't found one of those gyms yet though.
2. Selfie Sticks (these things won't go away) – I see a tourist poke someone with one of these things at least once a day; on the weekends, several times a day. I can't believe these are still an actual thing, or that they ever were.
3. Rompers – A few months ago I began to notice that as it got warmer, more and more girls were beginning to wear these very strange garments that honestly, to me, resembled something a toddler would wear. Seriously, I used to wear them when I was three years old. When I see packs of girls wearing these things, I began to wonder if they knew some secret I did not. Were these perhaps the new thing in comfort and style? The answer is no. They are not. Try going out for a night of drinks and use the ladies room in one of the bars on Bourbon with barely a door, and you basically have to get fully undressed just to use the bathroom. No thanks. Oh hell no. Moving on.
4. Unintentional matching outfits for "bros," specifically white guys – This has probably been going on forever, but its like everyday I see a pack of bros – in their natural habitat of a street full of bars – and they all seem to be wearing the exact same thing. Similar to rompers with girls, perhaps it's about the summertime (As dudes don't tend to get creative with summer clothes)? But all I see them in is khaki shorts and checkered short-sleeved button-downs. They all look exactly the same.
5. Uber – Everyone in the Quarter gets Ubers now. Everyone leaving our restaurant is on their phones ordering an Uber, not a cab. I will sometimes use them when it's raining and the thought of getting drenched on my bike doesn't appeal to me. I can also say, I have had the most entertaining Uber rides. And some strange ones. I once had a driver tell me that I smelled of food and was making him hungry (disclosure, I work in a kitchen), and while I think that was supposed to be flattering, it didn't exactly make me feel great. Other drivers have offered me candy or even beer, never had that from a cab. And I realize that you're not exactly supposed to accept candy or beer from strangers, but … You had to be there.
6. Crazy hair color – I am guilty of this trend. At first there were only a few of us, but now it seems like every color of the rainbow is being represented in both the young and old. I personally love this trend, although it's pretty rough on your towels. And white shirts. And shower floor. And pillows. Basically anything that is a light color. But I think it's totally worth it. Actually, whenever I pass by someone with a crazy hair color, they always give me a nod that says, "I feel your pain … And your pleasure."
