“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.”
Thomas Jefferson
For my birthday I decided to take a little trip to New Orleans. I have always wanted to go there but had as of yet to get there. Being a pHobo it seemed to be the perfect destination. Not only for how photogenic New Orleans is, but also for the rail route which earned itself a song. One verse of that song goes…Passin’ trains that have no names, freight yards full of old black men, and the graveyards of the rusted automobiles seemed particularly symbolic.
The train they call the City of New Orleans has a lot of history. Originally operated by Illinois Central it ran daily between Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans. These three cities have long shared a love for the culinary, as well as the soulful sound of the Blues making them truly great cities in mid America. This mainline of mid america is now owned by Canadian National railroad while passenger service for all of the United States is Amtrak’s responsibility. When Amtrak dropped the name City of New Orleans from that route the outcry from americans was heard all the way to their corporate offices and the City of New Orleans continues to run daily.
While in New Orleans set out to capture some images at the defunct Six Flags amusement park hoping to find some post apocalyptic scenery. However be careful of what you wish became the order of the day. After photographing a broken, weathered, and graffiti riddled remains of a ride that used classic automobiles of the 50’s to carry it’s passengers on the ends of its steel tentacles I was intercepted by security. Clicking off some last shots I went to the security trucks window. There were a pair of security guards inside? I question this pairing because one was a female wearing the uniform of a security guard, and the other was a male in jeans and a t-shirt.
The female aggressively asked for my ID, took down the information and clipped my ID to her clipboard. She then ordered me to erase all the photographs in my camera. I asked her why and she told me to erase all the photographs or I faced a $1,000 fine and up to 6 months in prison. Also that “there were dangerous animals there that would kill and eat me“. I explained what I was doing, and asked her to reconsider those demands. She grabbed her cell phone and started dialing saying that she was calling New Orleans PD if I didn’t start erasing. Facing this situation 900 miles from home I reluctantly agreed. She then told me she was keeping my ID until she saw me out of the park and to “start walking the way I had come in while she followed me“.
I asked her if I could be eaten why was I walking, and she replied “get moving”. It wasn’t even any help informing her I was physically disabled. After walking a short distance I noticed I was not being followed and figured she had driven to one of the 2 gates leading into the immense parking lot. I walked across the lot to one and then the other but she was nowhere to be found. Worried about not having my ID I then made 2 more circuits of the park calling out while walking in the sweltering heat and humidity.
Still unable to find any trace of her I started making my way out to the gate to leave while my legs began cramping up. Being a former paramedic I recognized I most likely had heat cramps and heat exhaustion because I was still luckily sweating, although not nearly as much as I had been earlier. After seriously hydrating myself I was still weak and in pain so I went back to my hotel room to lay in the air conditioning contemplating how to get my ID back.