'Nana' asks for a little parade etiquette
Since living in this area for the past 15 years, I have attended a lot of parades. I probably have attended nearly every parade in the county during this time period. I took my daughter when she was younger, followed her as she played in the middle school and high school bands, and now enjoy watching my grandson as he enjoys parades.
In my opinion, there has always been an unwritten rule at parades, especially when it comes to children and candy.
There is a sort of Les Nesman-type, invisible border for each person, typically children, to allow that child an opportunity to pick up candy. When candy is thrown from a parade vehicle into that area where the child and his parent are located, that child should be given sufficient time to claim and pick up the candy or other item.
Evidently, some people at the Labor Day parade at Florence didn't receive that memo or need a lesson on parade etiquette.
I realize that older kids are after volume, not value, when it comes to candy. My four-year-old grandson is all about the joy of picking up one, selected candy at a time and returning it to his bag which is held by his mother. He then goes back and picks up another selection that he also had eyed, returning it to his candy sack.
Returning to the original spot for the second piece of candy typically has resulted in that candy being there.
At this year's Marion County Fair parade, there were children next to us who gave candy to Dylan when they had picked up a surplus. What a wonderful gesture!
Unfortunately, such was not the case at Monday's parade.
It wasn't the children but the adults next to us who were rude.
My grandson would wait for the handful of goodies to be tossed but only to be pushed and shoved out of the way by ADULTS. Yes, ADULTS. Other times, there would be a few pieces within his "space" but when he returned to pick them up, they would be gone — taken by greedy ADULTS.
Judging from their physiques, I can safely say none of these big kids were starving. The way they were clamoring over the candy you would think there were $100 bills hidden in some of them.
Finally, my daughter stood up with my grandson to "assist" him in at least retrieving an occasional treat.
In the end, Dylan had plenty, which never was the point to begin with, but the people next to us had bags and pockets overflowing with goodies.
I'm glad the adults were enjoying the parade. It was a wonderful event, as always at Florence, but a few manners would go a long way and make the parade a positive memory for all.
— SUSAN BERG
