Low Rider Saturday on Broadway

My dog Jasper came into the house from the back yard and stared at the back door while sitting nervously under my legs. That meant he was afraid. Truth be told, there was enormous caterwauling outside, accentuated by explosive booms. What was going on? 

In the afternoon, an enormous assemblage of low rider vehicles had gathered on Broadway, which passes two blocks away from my house here in Sacramento. This was the biggest low-rider gathering I had ever seen on Broadway. The organization involved must be incredible! 

Recently, these low-rider gatherings were made legal again, after having been made illegal in the dark, dim, prehistoric past - oh, about twenty years ago. These days, we are a much more tolerant people than our barbaric ancestors were two decades ago, when MySpace was all the rage. Let's tolerate anew! 

But now there was a helicopter circling above my house and shining its spotlight on the tattooed vatos down below, and saying something like, "The car show is over. This gathering is illegal. Leave immediately. You risk having your car impounded and getting arrested, including your passengers." And there were technical problems too, so the announcement from the helicopter started sounding like the teacher in Charlie Brown cartoons: "Wah, wah, wah, wah." And the denizens down below responded with blasts from M-80s, lots and lots of engine revving, and the hideous scream of metal on pavement as the low riders departed down unfamiliar streets and scraped against unexpected speed humps. 

Well, it is about 10 p.m. All good things must end. And maybe we aren't quite as tolerant as we think.