It was a bit of a down weekend. On Saturday, Crystal Palace football club managed to come a dismal second in a competition with bottom placed Leeds United. Then, as the day progressed, it turned out to be a quieter day at the store than usual for a Saturday. A lot of customers, it seemed, had headed off to Hamilton for the British Show. If you were one of them, were you as disappointed as I was when I got to the show?
Hats off to show organizers, the Scottish Banner, for attempting to bring us a welcome diversion from the winter blahs. I am sure they are as disappointed as many visitors in the results of their sterling efforts. The Hamilton Convention Centre is a nice facility. It is easy to get to; it has ample parking and it is a clean, modern facility. When I arrived, as a show visitor, around mid-morning on Sunday there was already a lengthy line-up. I joined the end of the line and waited about 25 minutes to get into the show. Security personnel were admitting people in small groups only after other visitors had left. When I finally got into the main hall where the show was being held it was almost empty! Somebody explained to me that there is a fire restriction of (I am told) 750 people in the facility. That's 750 including the number of people in the queue!
With enough room to swing a large cat (if my daughter is reading this, I promise not to use your cat sweetheart) I entered the hall. My first impression was this must be a small part of the show and that the main show would be in another room. I was wrong. This was it. To be completely honest, I spent more time queueing to get in than I actually spent in the show. Guest Coronation Street star Johnny Briggs wasn't scheduled to appear for another 90 minutes and I couldn't figure out how to gainfully fill that time so, after walking right round the show six times and listening to the end of a set by the Toronto Shadows club, I left without seeing him.
Many people even left the queue in frustration without getting in at all. The feedback I have heard since the weekend suggests the show organizers may have been left rather red-faced and probably out-of-pocket. I would like to thank them for their effort and wish them the best of luck in overcoming this year's shortcomings in future shows.
One positive thing came out of my visit. If people are willing to pay the prices being charged for British groceries and candy at the show, Blighty's can put its prices up by at least 25%! Don't worry, I am not going to do that!
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