# Is there any point to collecting beads (showing tits) at Mardi Gras? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-to-collecting-beads-showing-tits-at-mardi-gras/663631 "2013-07-16T02:29:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-to-collecting-beads-showing-tits-at-mardi-gras/663631/61 "2013-07-19T01:31:57Z")
The New Orleans bead based economy is a strange thing. You can buy the same good beads for a few dollars a bag but those are worthless. The only ones that are a truly worth anything are based on the number of steps it took for them to end up on you through legitimate transactions (mostly nudity and sex based). I went to college in New Orleans and worked in an upscale hotel that held elite events. It was shocking what so-called normal people would do especially during Mardi Gras season and the flashing is just the least of it. We had a high tolerance for depravity just like everyone in the hospitality industry there does but some people still pushed it to far and they often weren’t the ones you would expect. I sometimes had to physically eject people for having sex in public areas among anything else they could come up with. We aren’t talking about your typical degenerates here. It is amazing what a school teacher from Iowa will do for simple beads once she gets there even if she never considered it before she got there. Some people definitely respond to their pent up desires when they find a favorable environment. I even had to pick up a 65+ year old woman in the chair she was sitting on with the help of two other coworkers and set her outside the hotel right next to St. Charles Ave. because she had gotten so out of control. Nobody needed to see or hear that. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-to-collecting-beads-showing-tits-at-mardi-gras/663631/62 "2013-07-19T01:49:21Z")
The times I’ve been to Mardi Gras, it didn’t seem like they were competing for the best tits. They were competing for the most beads. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-to-collecting-beads-showing-tits-at-mardi-gras/663631/63 "2013-07-19T01:50:33Z")
I went to Mardi Gras once, and it was a bust. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-to-collecting-beads-showing-tits-at-mardi-gras/663631/64 "2013-07-19T02:44:57Z")
People have a strong group mentality, and when it’s OK to go wild and crazy, then they go wild and crazy. You see that a lot in Japan, were otherwise mild mannered people get really crazy. There was a time when clubbing got really popular, and while the women wouldn’t get as naked, they would get up on stages and flash their underwear to the approving roars of the crowds. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-to-collecting-beads-showing-tits-at-mardi-gras/663631/65 "2013-07-19T21:30:32Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > On the other hand, you really shouldn’t flash your tits in Mecca. People are likely to object. > > And if you get beheaded, you’ll have nowhere to hang your beads anyway. Just don’t show them this book: > **[Amazon.com: Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World:...](https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Citadel-Intimate-Changing-World/dp/0307377393)** > > Amazon.com: Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World: 9780307377395: El Feki, Shereen: Books [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-point-to-collecting-beads-showing-tits-at-mardi-gras/663631.md?page=3)