Days of 47 Parade Etiquette

I went to the Days of 47 Parade yesterday with my kids. We have a foreign exchange student here from France and he decided he wanted to go boating so Justin took him water skiing with his family and I went to the parade with my kids.

When I was on my way to the parade I called my mom to see where she was sitting and she told me she wasn't there yet. Since it was already 8:30 AM, I knew we would not get great seats and have to park far away but I asked my kids and they still wanted to go so we went anyway. After parking and walking (0.7 miles, I googled it!), we came up to the corner of 500 E and 900 S. I saw a fairly open space, not right on the curb but just behind some kids and decided to set up. However, I quickly realized that the spot was not taken because it was very wet and muddy. I didn't care, so I set up anyway and when my kids kept stepping in the muddy water and complaining, I decided to set my blanket down in front of me just for walking purposes although within minutes it was pretty soaked through.

Well, there was still a small space in front of my blanket that could easily fit a few chairs but I figured it wouldn't be taken by anyone because of the wet grass. In a sense, I was right but on 3 different occasions throughout the parade, people decided it was a great place to just stand! I mean, seriously, you are going to come to the parade after me and proceed to stand in front of me? I really could not believe it! The first people to stand in front of me was a family of 4. Eventually the family next to me got tired of seeing them standing in front of us and them, so they cleared off some of the curb and gave them seats. I thought it very kind of them since they slept there overnight and had their blankets on the curb for their own kids. Then another lady proceeded to come and stand right in front of us, it really irked me but I didn't feel like saying anything to her. She kept turning around and looking behind her like she was looking for someone and kept talking on her phone and finally after 20 minutes or so, her friend came and she left. Seriously, you couldn't stand to the side of us or behind us? She knew exactly what she was doing but did it anyway, you could just tell by her body language.

The last lady appeared over by us because her daughter saw a spot on the curb and sat down, therefore she felt it her duty to stand behind her daughter, right in front of us again, aaaaahhhhh! Now, her daughter was not small, probably 10 and would be fine if the lady moved just a bit!!! She did eventually squat down and then she stood again kind of off to the side, but all in all, I was a bit surprised at how many people thought it was okay to come and stand right in front of someone who has chairs set up. I have to say though, they probably would've sat down, maybe, but the grass was gross.

Anyway, I thought the parade was nice, albeit hot, and we stayed until we saw my brother play his trumpet in the Salt Lake County band and then we left. It was nice to do something full of pioneer spirit and enjoy the fun floats.

Then we went back to my mom's house for a BBQ and it was fun with family and tasty food. All in all, a pretty decent day!!