New Orleans is one of the most unique cities in the U.S. and in the world.Its culture, its diversity and of course Bourbon Street make it a Louisiana treasure.The Big Easy is always near the top of my “Places to Party” list. But there is one problem with growing up in and around the Crescent City: You learn stupid rhetoric.I’ve had countless arguments with coworkers in the past few weeks about the proper name of the label that sticks to the inside of your cars windshield.
It’s the sticker you get when your car is inspected. Hence, it’s called an inspection sticker.Seems simple enough, right?Maybe you’re not as freaked out by this choice of words as I was, but why brake tag?Sure your brakes are part of what gets inspected. But the horns, signals, lights and apparently brakes hold seniority in the Big Easy.Another common Big Easy blunder is the term “neutral ground.” Other parts of the state refer to the area of land that divides a road as the “median.”According to the dictionary page on crescentcity.com, legend has it this term comes from the way the French and Spanish used to do business — on neutral ground, in the middle of the road.Big deal. I used to be called colored, but now I’m black. Times change. Get with the program.New Orleans terminology is stupid. And what makes the stupidity worse is New Orleanians don’t care that they’re wrong.In their eyes, everything Big Easy is right. But we all know New Orleanians have never done anything wrong — like electing a crook to nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.Wait … nevermind.Obviously, this is all in jest. Everyone should take pride in where they’re from. I’m not trying to convince any New Orleanian to start saying “median” or actually pronounce “room” like it’s supposed to be and not like the name of a delicious alcoholic beverage.But the whole inspection sticker thing seems simple. Come on, New Orleans, you’re smarter than that.—-Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]