if you don't like it, go home

Living in a small tourist town, we've grown accustomed to seeing strangers and hearing their conversation while we spend time in town. In most cases, they are discussing what they have purchased from gift shops, what they're going to eat next, or what local landmarks are still on their to-see list. For the holidays, our town just had our annual Christmas parade and it was lots of fun. Lots of tourists came in from miles around to see it.

There were floats, marching bands, classic automobiles, and even Ronald McDonald. Those in the parade threw out candy and toys to the children as they passed. It was nothing groundbreaking or spectacular, but it was good clean fun for a town of 2500 people and our guests. unfortunately, we were standing next to a group of morons from some nearby town, and all they could manage to do was badmouth everything as it passed.

Now, I'm as guilty as the next guy at making underhanded comments under my breath or to my wife, but I don't say them out loud for all to hear. And if my family and the people around me are enjoying it, I certainly don't spoil the evening for them. Plus, if I was having a miserable time at a parade, guess what? I would leave.

Our parade wasn't perfect. Sure, I noticed the occasional breaks in the line that caused us to wonder if the parade was over or not, and I thought it was a bit cheesy that some of the "floats" looked just like flatbed trailers with Christmas lights on them, but for a small town, it was still very nice.

If you want a Macy's style parade, get your family on a plane and fly to some big city.