MO, N and me-self went to Wimbledon yesterday to watch the tennis. N set the alarm for 5:30am, which was depressing but necessary as it took over 4 hours of queuing to get in. This was the third time I had been to the Championships and whilst I'm not exactly a tennis fan I would certainly agree that it makes a good day out. As it was busy (as you might expect) it took a while to get into some of the courts. We eventually made our way into Court No. 18 to watch two blokes slug it out over a net. Clement v Mezler (I think). All three of us did actually doze off during the second set and I managed to burn my hand in the sun. I felt sorry in a perverse sort of way for these two tennis players - as whoever was going to win would ultimately be smashed into oblivion in their next match... and so their futile careers in the sport will continue on a forever downward trend until some Serbian type with a name ending in "ic" will replace them.
I found myself watching the efficiency of the ball boys/girls as they rolled the balls to their colleagues at the end where whoever was about to serve and wondered what would happen if one of them decided to lob a tennis ball at one of the players heads or said "sod off... get your own bloody towel, yer lazy git!" N must of been bored too as she wondered how far she would get if she streaked naked across the court on live TV! Then snapping me out of my reverie I was struck by a tennis ball... and it stung quite a bit too! In fact during the course of the day I was struck twice. Clearly going to Wimbledon can have its dangers.
We took a look in the shop and by the Lord Harry!... the prices they were charging were taking the pee - to say the least. You can get the blazer that the linemen and women wear for £405!!! Look like a prat for £405. They must be joking...
Another thing I didn't quite understand were the countless number of London Fire Brigade staff present who were marshalling people in and out of the courts... why weren't they on duty fighting fires?... or is it another perk of their overpaid jobs that as well as lazing around all day and having 2nd or 3rd jobs they get free visits to Wimbledon.
We eventually left and had dinner at the Mexican/Indian fusion restaurant in Harrow... where MO felt he had been stitched up with both his courses.
Now totally exhausted we all went home.