Growing up in rural South Georgia, my only exposure to New Orleans was Greasing of the Poles on the national news, on Mardi Gras day. It was so scandalous, these revelers sliding their bodies and props on poles in the streets, all in the name of Fat Tuesday. I grew up in the Southern Baptist world, and the Protestant in me had no concept of a liturgical calendar, much less any concept of Mardi Gras.