Full-Body Diseases: Mardi Gras Fever (also known as Carnival-itis)
What Causes Mardi Gras Fever?
Mardi Gras Fever is caused by insatiable appetite for more and cooler beads. Also caused by a feeling of what one "MUST do" if the infected person lives in New Orleans; especially heightened if this is the person's first time to experience the Carnival season. Susceptibility to Mardi Gras Fever is also heightened by exposure, for any length of time, to publicity surrounding the holiday season. Excessive amounts of advertising for beads and other useless crap heighten one's vulnerability. Warning: although there is plenty of advance warning and notification of the oncoming Carnival season, Mardi Gras Fever can infect those who least expect it and those whose vaccinations are up to date.
What Are the Symptoms of Mardi Gras Fever?
The classic symptoms of Mardi Gras Fever include:
- Excessive screaming and desire for small, shiny beads; increased enthusiasm and
screaming for what is known in the medical community as "cooler throws," including: larger beads, feather boas, plastic spears, foam footballs, plastic cups, lighted medallions, plush animals, plastic coins ("doubloons"). In rarer circumstances, a person may display such symptoms for hand-painted coconuts, satin sleep masks, and small plastic tambourines. In extreme cases, a person infected by Mardi Gras Fever may show such symptoms at even the mention or thought of catching any number random and useless throws. - Heightened anxiety to find a spot next to the parade route. Includes arriving any number of hours before the parade begins; bringing blankets, chairs, ladders, and even caution tape to secure the "perfect" viewing location. Patients with such symptoms will be highly irritable when such perfect viewing spots are spoiled by parade-goers who arrive later, infringe upon said reserved territory, and yet seem to catch all the best throws.
- Insensitivity to personal space, including a willingness to exploit young children and block out others' ability to catch good throws from parade floats.
- Throbbing headache. This symptom may last several hours or days after the parade is over. (When tested in several research studies, a direct causation link was discovered between shouting at the top of one's lungs for useless junk with the onset of a severe headache. Thus, this symptom is preventable, yet highly likely for a person who suffers from Mardi Gras Fever).
- Cessation of all basic household functions. May result in large piles of clothing on the floor, dishes in the sink (despite having a dishwasher), a dishwasher with clean dishes that has not been emptied in several days, negligence to go grocery shopping or perform other basic household chores, large piles of beads and other parade booty accumulating around the house, multiple stacks of plastic cups received from parade floats, stray feathers from personal boa usage, assorted air mattresses and extra bedding to accommodate multiple house guests.
- Temporary inability to maintain relationships outside of those directly related to the festivities of Carnival. Due to the excessive time spent with pre-parade preparation, parade-watching, post-parade eating & celebration, a feeling of abandonment can develop in relation to outside friendships. Sufferers of Mardi Gras Fever, and their loved ones, can be comforted by the temporary nature of this symptom and should not take personally the inability of the infected person to return phone calls or take care of normal business.
- Identity confusion. Comes with willingness to adorn costumes and other
such activities to garner the attention of parade riders in order to get the best throws. - Sore throat and loss of voice. (This, like throbbing headache, has been directly linked to screaming for multiple days at the top of one's lungs. However, this symptom does not necessarily prove preventative to pursuing further Mardi Gras activities.)
- Neck pains due to wearing multiple strands of heavy beads for even short periods of time.
- Excessive fatigue due to not only staying out late for night parades and waking up early to catch the day parades, but also to repetitive physical exertion to acquire all the best beads.
- General aches & pains due to carrying heavy bags full of excessive amounts of beads.
- Surges of jealousy, mostly when peers obtain cooler throws, often by manipulative means such as blowing kisses, applying lip gloss, singing or dancing for the throwers or other such tactics.
My experience with this serious condition has also allowed me time to reflect on the real meaning of the season, as we enter this Lenten time of fasting. Carnival was for the feasting, the celebration of life and people and food and good times. Carnival was a distraction for me and this whole city and sometimes we need distractions. We need to be pulled out of our self-pitying haze of discouragement to be reminded that there is beauty in the world, there is joy in the company of people, there is fun to be had in this life! And Ash Wednesday reminds us that all those distractions will eventually burn away. All we cling to beyond the comfort of a momentary distraction will never fully satisfy, will never last. The distraction was good and we are not to be shamed or scolded for partaking in the celebratory culture of this place. But how many other things do I fill my life with to remain in the constant state of distraction from the pain and difficulties around me? How often do I press in to the pain and willingly pursue the challenges that are not fun? I am thankful for Mardi Gras and am thankful that the people of this city can still find reason to celebrate. And I pray that as seasons of celebration come up in our lives we will welcome them with the same openness that we welcome those seasons of fasting, and facing the challenges.
As the beads are cleaned from the streets and people hang up their masks until next year, the challenges of rebuilding a broken city still remain. Distractions are just that--not a permanent removal of challenges but a temporary diversion of our attention. Perhaps it is the promise of another season of celebration that gives us the hope to push on. Winter will turn to spring and life will come again. If that is a lesson that we can learn from Mardi Gras then let the celebration continue! If we can learn from the Lenten season of fast that we must surrender our comforts upon which we've built our hope and protection in order to truly feast in the bounty that God gives, then we can make it through the sacrifice and enter into the true banquet of life and grace and love.
