The Parade or An Ad?

It was 5:15 in Mazatlan, the sun was out but setting, the sidewalks and paseo were filled with people. No parade however and I had to chose to leave my spot or screw the driver. In the end, the choice was pretty simple. It was the Margot choice. Treat all people with respect and dignity. I gave up my space, waved goodbye to the grandmother and marched towards my meeting point with the taxi driver. I made great time and passed through the checkpoint at 5:25. He was already there and I said, hey, sorry, amigo but the parade has not begun and I want to see the parade. I asked him if he could come back. I would double the tip I gave him. He said sure, and we shook hands. We agreed on 8pm this time. I would be in serious trouble if the parade didn’t finish before 8 but I felt it would be a safe bet as so many people had arrived expecting the parade to begin soon. The driver left and I marched back to... Not my spot because as sure as shit, the moment I left, the parade started. Oh, well. I had done the right thing. I quickly found a high spot and readied my camera. So far the new camera had been great but with the lens on the left-hand side, I had a lot of pictures of my fat finger. As well, I still hadn’t quite worked out why sometimes the movie shots work and sometimes they don’t. But this was it. This is the reason the camera had been purchased. Sirens sounded. Horns blared. The sounds of heavy engines revving began to fill the air. Smoke from all the meat vendors hung over the road like tear gas. A red shirted organizer came running up the road shouting for everyone to get out of the way. A police car then came next, presumably to run anyone down still stupid enough to be in the way of the parade. Then the whole crowd looked down the street. They began to cheer and blow horns and clap and shout and throw confetti and ribbon strips. It was incredible. I stood taller to get the best view possible. And there, moving slowly, appeared a a row of people carrying banners followed by an SUV painted bright blue. Pretty girls stood in the back of the truck, gyrating and throwing goodies at the crowd. It was the first float. Pacifica Beer. Pacifica beer presents. Pacifica girls. It was followed by more beer trucks or vans all topped with pretty girls dressed in the beer company colors. Sunshine yellow. Pacific blue. Devil red (not sure what beer that was). Took lots of pictures as truck after truck, van after van, tractor after tractor roared by, music blaring. They weren’t so much parade floats as advertisements but no one seemed to care. It was Carnival. Then the music and trucks and pretty girls drifted farther down the street and I looked for the next lot of floats. It was 5:45. Was that it?