Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Goodbyeee


I try to play down the "security" bit of what we do at Greenbelt. After all, Greenbelt is one of the safest festivals you can think about going to. But we do have to watch out for locals coming in without tickets. To be honest most of them wouldn't do any harm, it's simply that they are bored, but every year we have to evict a few off site. And eviction normally needs 4-6 of us to herd the person off, we don't touch anyone so it is sheer physical presence that steers them in the right direction.

One evening I was walking along when a group of approximately 10 lads came towards me. You get used to scanning them quickly with your eyes. They seemed OK, carrying water and soft drinks but that was all. Except one of them, who seemed to shift something to his off-hand and suddenly picked up speed slightly. Just enough to make me think something was wrong (I sometimes wonder how I ended up in charge of a team, but maybe that is why). I called him, he speeded up, so I caught up with him. He stopped and sure enough there was a can of beer in his hand. I explained that beer wasn't allowed out of the camp site or the pub. As he handed me the can I realised he didn't have a wrist band. I told him that without a wristband he would have to leave the site. I was ready to call in some back up, especially as I was expecting his 9 mates to come back. And my wingman had disappeared. I was feeling a bit exposed. But as we talked we walked towards the gates. And before I knew it I had escorted him off site. All rather strange as I had to radio it in to control after the event, normally we would inform them while it was happening. Possibly the easiest eviction I have ever known.

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