The battered and busted streets of New Orleans are often the butt of jokes, but they can take on a more serious nature when you consider the cost of car repairs, insurance rates, and the unpredictable nature of road construction that seems to have stretched to many corners of the city.
Locals have lived with this understanding for as long as anyone can remember, but I recently came across a modern take on this classically New Orleans problem.
It’s an Instagram page with the handle @lookathisfu**instreet.
(Note: I’ve placed the asterisks on the handle in this article to keep things clean. On Instagram of course, the asterisks don’t exist in the handle.)
It was the blunt nature of the handle that first caught my intention. Maybe it had the same effect for some other users too. As I write this article, the account has more than 84,000 followers…and counting.
Initially, I found the page thoroughly entertaining after following it last month. The writing in the posts were catchy, a bit crass and most people in New Orleans could probably relate to all of it.
The choice of music that accompanied some of the videos complemented the subject matter. But as I sifted through the page’s past posts and updates, I saw somewhat of an evolution.
What started as an online comedic take on New Orleans’ potholes, sinkholes and fragile infrastructure has become a channel where some real-life results can take place. There’s even merchandising involved now.
Who created this page? What was their inspiration? Because... let’s be real: Complaining or poking fun at NOLA streets isn’t new.
I sent a direct message to the page looking to talk with the person behind it. He agreed. A warning before you listen: This story contains some profanity that is unedited. Click the link above to hear the interview.
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