I got up this morning at 4am, left the house at 4.30am and was parked in the centre of Oxford by 5am, it was wet and horrible.
May Morning in Oxford then. I think the rain kept some of the people away this year but it was still pretty well attended, it was hard to tell really as I was early this year so got myself right in the crowd under the tower instead of lurking at the sidelines.
The last time I went I blogged about how there were a few Tossers in attendance, this year the Tosser Quotient (TQ) was off the scale. I don't know if it was my more central position, or the rain making me a little grumpy, but other people were pissing me off left, right and centre.
The first thing that annoyed me was the umbrellas, yes it's raining but can't you just accept that you are going to get a bit damp and get on with it? If you do want to use an umbrella then really you should stand where there is enough space to do so, I lost count on the number of 5' high girls walking right through the crowd with umbrella above them - I'm 6' tall and that meant that your weapon ('cos that's how they use 'em) is right at my face height. At one point one of the bloody things somehow got caught on my lip as the Tosser barged past, I have first hand experience of feeling like a Trout.
The second thing (in a very long list) that annoyed me was all the people who had to barge their way through the crowd. The bridge was closed and the crowd was gathered under the Tower so there really is no benefit for them to be at the front, if you are at the front then really you have passed the "action". Some people were polite and said "excuse me" (or something like it) and I let those past, some people just pushed me and... well... I have a bit of a problem with that sort of behaviour really... I'll leave it at that!
The third thing was that when the choir sang and the chap said the prayer, a lot of people just carried on making noise (especially a group of French students next to me). This was the bit you came for! You are ruining the moment!
Still, those were the bad bits but I'm still glad I went. May Morning is a unique event in a City I love, well worth sacrificing a few hours sleep for.
