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© 2004 Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune Introduction Essay for Louisiana 24/7 It's Worth Waiting For By Ron Thibodeaux It's a fact of life for Louisiana musicians: You can't make it on Bourbon Street unless you can play "House of the Rising Sun." How incongruous that in the hometown of jazz--and Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Connick, Jr.--the tourists keep calling for an old, imported folk song. Yet night after night, conventioneers flock to the French Quarter, guzzle those Hurricanes, and clamor for that ditty about a house of ill repute and all the drinking, gambling, and other fine temptations that are New Orleans. Each refrain confirms preconceived notions of the exotic, sensual place they're visiting, but if there's any truth to be found in those lyrics, it's in this line: "I've got one foot on the platform, the other foot on the train." That's New Orleans. That's Louisiana. Nowhere else in the United States does such a richly textured history hold sway over modern life. That's true in the bayou country, home to the Cajuns. It's true in north Louisiana, the Baptist high ground more akin to the rest of the Deep South. And it's certainly the case in New Orleans, a metrop-olis that pulses simultaneously with Old World joie de vivre, Third World blight, and otherworldly eccentricity. But the attitudes that make Louisianians unique--and glad their home isn't all those other boring places--have also held us back. Nobody takes it easy like we do, and consequently we've been too tolerant for too long of the state's poverty, its broken education system, its industrial pollution, its poor health statistics, its crooked politicians, its drowning coastal wetlands. It's in our nature, you see, to keep one foot on that platform, the other foot on the train. We're so tied to the past, we've been hesitant to embrace the future, and the present suffers. It's not that we're unenlightened. It's just that progress takes a lot of effort for folks who take pride in letting the good times roll. Of course, that nothing seems to happen in a hurry around here is not always a problem. Louisianians know that certain things are worth waiting for: a simmering pot of red beans, a Mardi Gras parade that's still miles away, a new crop of Ruston peaches or Ponchatoula strawberries, a sunrise over the Atchafalaya Basin or Toledo Bend, a national championship for LSU's football team. Like nowhere else, patience is its own reward in Louisiana. Yet reasons for optimism are emerging. The state is still near the bottom in too many rankings, but some quality-of-life indicators are finally starting to bend upward. Politics are in transition, too: Former Governor Edwin Edwards is in prison now, his corruptions no longer a factor in state government. The political dynasty founded by Huey Long has drawn to a close with the death of his son, former United States Senator Russell Long. And in 2004 we installed Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Lafayette, a Democrat, as the first woman governor of the state. The images contained in Louisiana 24/7 convey the funky drumbeat of life in the Bayou State. They suggest that there are many Louisianians who tend to stay grounded, even if it's with one foot here and the other there. From that unique perspective, we love the view. And God, I know I'm one. Browse    View All    It's Worth Waiting For    Hearth & Home    Hard at Work    Louisiana at Play    Reason to Believe    Our Town Photos: 175 Photographers: 35 Towns: 54

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