When OffBeat first started, I was much younger, full of a lot more ambition than now, and I could never understand why things in New Orleans slowed down to a crawl, nay, to almost a stop every summer.

I was working my ass off. Why wasn’t everybody else?

Silly me.

My editor at the time, the esteemed Eric Bookhardt, explained to idiot me that the weather has a profound impact on business in New Orleans. Who wants to do anything but stay inside under a blowing fan or an AC in the middle of a 95-degree, 95-percent humidity day? That goes for people doing business here, and also for people wanting to visit the city. There was a time when nothing, and I mean nothing happened in New Orleans from June through August. Now we have Essence (one reason why the city fathers bend over backwards to keep the event here), The Red Dress Run, Running of The Bulls, Satchmo SummerFest, etc etc.during the summers. It’s also the reason you see lots and lots of religious groups in New Orleans this time of year (it’s a lot cheaper: the “down” season, don’t you know).

It’s also the time when kids are out of school and have a lot of time on their hands, people are affected negatively by the hot weather (more irritable, I guess), and there’s a lot more crime. Calls for police assistance in New Orleans tell the tale. I must say I’m pretty impressed by the information on this website, to inform citizens of crime in their city, as well as the efforts by the NOPD to tell citizens how they should interact with police. Kudos to NOPD for this effort. I know they aren’t perfect, and I know both white and African-Amercians who have been stopped and harassed by police. That’s bad. There’s work to be done on both sides.

I’m also very glad that New Orleans has not been involved in the terrible assaults by police on black citizens that we’ve seen recently and the retaliatory actions of a people against police. It’s an awful situation on both sides.

I’ve asked a few of the music clubs in town how their business is during the summer, and most have told me things are slower than usual, but not that bad. I’ve also heard of a few incidents, one of which involved a couple who went into a Frenchmen Street establishment, sidled up to the bar and asked to have a selfie made with patrons at the bar. The patron’s wallet was stolen by the couple before she knew it. So the bad guys are out there.

But please don’t let the heat keep you from going out and enjoying the city (crime is actually way down in New Orleans).

It’s summer. Be aware. Heat makes people crazy and stupid.