Puerto Rican Day Parade

I hadn't watched Seinfeld for quite some time, but my family used to watch it all the time when I was in high school. I recently caught a rerun of on of the later episodes that I hadn't seen as much. Jerry and the gang are driving home from a Mets game when they come upon a Puerto Rican Day parade. The crowds of people and blocked off streets are preventing the group from reaching their destination.

In order to get into a nearby apartment for sale, in order to use the bathroom,Kramer poses as H.E. Pennypacker, Industrialist. When George and Jerry show up with the same idea, they assume false identities as well- George as the infamous Art Vandelay, and Jerry as Kel Varnsen. Varnsen and Pennypacker soon end up in a bidding war for the apartment (or at least its bathroom) leading Jerry to declare a line my brother was always randomly quoting : "But this time, advantage Varnsen!"

At some point, Kramer throws a sparkler out of the car and it accidentally sets a Puerto Rican flag on fire. When he attempts to put out the flames by stomping on the flag, he arouses the ire of a mob of onlookers, who chase him. The gay bullies (one of whom is Puerto Rican) who steal the armoire in the Soup Nazi episode make a hilarious reappearance here as well. Kramer gets away, of course, and the frustrated mob turn their wrath on Jerry's car, which the others have now fled. They end up throwing the whole car down a stairwell, with Kramer commenting "It's like this every day in Puerto Rico."

I know some Puerto Ricans were pretty upset at the time with this characterization of their country, and complained to the network pretty vocally. For this reason, the episode was out of syndication for many years, which explains why I had only seen it a few times. The episode is rated as one of the series' worst at the AV Club, but it still has its moments.

Although I was only in Puerto Rico for less than a week in October of 2014, I am happy to report that everyone I met was quite laid back, with no enraged mobs or burning cars to be seen!