I guess I'm somewhere in the middle but I always struggle to justify all the travelling usually associated with what ends up as a 10 or 15 minute display which usually takes on a similarity to all the other displays.
I'm not talking mega displays here like you get in London or Sydney at New Year, but bog standard town and village displays.
This year was fine as Hethersett and Tas Valley Cricket Club held its own display just for club members as a thank you for all the hard work put into a very successful season. So we had jacket potatoes with various fillings and the whole thing went well, despite the very wet weather. At least the rain had stopped by the evening and it wasn't too cold either.
But in the past we've struggled with some displays. I was involved in organising one for Wymondham Round Table many many years ago. It was on land belonging to Lotus Cars at Hethel. I think it lasted two or three years but got so big that we had to kill it off because it was causing traffic jams on the local roads and people were complaining that the display started before they could get on site. A similar thing happened with a display organised by Hethersett Football Club and these displays really do take some organising.
Then we went a few times to the New Year's Day display at Cromer which often seemed to get cancelled as the wind was often in the wrong direction or something like that. When it did take place, the roads all got jammed up. At the time we owned a flat in Cromer so were able to go there the day before, walk to the event and then walk back and stay the night. When we sold the flat we had to travel to the event.
Getting there wasn't a great problem as we drove during the early afternoon but getting away was horrendous and I was left asking myself "Is it really worth it taking over two hours sitting in traffic for a journey that would usually take about 40 minutes and getting home very late for something that lasted just 15 minutes at the most."
I'm afraid I now ask myself that question for a lot of things. I dislike crowds (says he as he prepares to join 27,000 others at a football match) and even more I dislike having to queue to park the car, not even knowing whether there will be parking spaces. I hate sitting in a queue to get into a car park, knowing that you will have to wait for a vehicle to come out before you get in and then you have to hunt the parking space. Often I would rather not go to an event and there aren't many events I would subject myself to that kind of torture.
As you know I did go to see The Who at Sandringham a couple of months ago and getting out from that was a nightmare and took hours and I made a mental note not to repeat it unless it was an act I really really wanted to see and I can't think of many if any that would fit into that category.
Yesterday was a very busy day (I like busy days, they stop you from getting bored). To start with there was a midday football match. Midday on a Sunday - I ask you. Of course we all know why there is a midday kick off on a Sunday and it's called the power of television coverage. Thou shalt miss your Sunday roast to sit on a plastic seat getting cold and watching the unpalatable football being served up by Norwich City at the moment. Before the game against Blackburn there was a great deal of grumbling about the state of things at Carrow Road and some even expressing a hope that Norwich would lose if it led to the sacking of a manager who seems to have few ideas and who seems to be relying on a brand of football that is akin to sitting stock still in a chair whilst staring at a wall for the best part of two hours.
They needn't have worried. After 15 or so minutes we were 2-0 behind. Shortly after half-time Blackburn added a third and the Norwich fans started chanting this to the Blackburn fans:
"We're always losing
We're always losing
You're nothing special
We're always losing."
The pre match ice cream and visit to the sweet shop with the grandkiddles was infinitely more enjoyable than the match and at the match the half-time pie and cup of Bovril was also preferable to the football.
I got back from the football just in time to go to the latest village screen offering which was an entertaining film The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. I remember reading the book not so long ago. It was certainly more entertaining than the football, but that really isn't saying much.