Needless to say, everything in the UK has been utterly dominated by the royal wedding today - there seems to be nothing else on TV or in the news. The conspiracy theorist in me sees the whole thing as a plot by the government to distract the public from the mess the country is in, and that the government themselves are making worse by their dogmatic policies, but it's more likely that the majority of Brits actually enjoy this sort of wallowing in sentimentality and love of royalty and pageantry, and I'm the curmudgeon who's out of step. Still, it hasn't had any great effect on my day, one way or the other - I went to work early this morning, before the hordes would've begun making their way into Central London, and travelled back at lunchtime, before the tide turned the other way, with the shift at work in the middle being reasonably equable, both in terms of the actual volume of work, and in the absence of yesterday's bigot-in-chief, who was on a different shift today.
Although I've been studiedly disinterested in the goings on in Westminster Abbey today, all the wedding talk has brought back to mind the best wedding I've ever been to - my own. That might just sound like a 'rose-tinted glasses' kind of statement, but I'm not just thinking of the obvious, 'I'm glad I married my wife', kind of sentiments. The actual mechanics of the day were as perfect as they could've been - the weather had been atrocious the day before, with strong winds and torrential rain, but the day itself dawned with clear blue skies and sunshine, which lasted until after the actual ceremony and the photographs at the reception venue, after which it poured with rain again, virtually everyone we wanted to be there turned up, and had a good time, the church service went well (yes, me, the unreconstructed atheist, got married in church, because it was what my wife wanted - call me a hypocrite if you want to, but I made my vows to her, as I see it, not to some imaginary god), the food and drink at the reception were perfect, everything was perfect, basically. If the royal couple have half as good a day as we had, they'll certainly enjoy themselves - and, for all my cynicism, I hope they do.
Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B
I watched about 3-hours of the pageant this morning live starting at 5AM my time and really enjoyed it while accomplishing my normal morning activities. No one can do something like this better than the British. Everything seemed to go perfectly. It was all very impressive. The facilities are just beautiful. I'd love to see these things in person (I know I never will) but I doubt I could better see them in person than I did this morning.
ReplyDeleteHello Brian
ReplyDeleteI guess us Brits can do the tradition and pageantry stuff well, if nothing much else! An outsider's view probably gives a better perspective - not that royal weddings are exactly a regular event, but you tend to take things close to home a little for granted.
Love & best wishes
Sammy B
I intend to fast forward through a bit of it on the DVR. I understand how you feel, but sometimes people do need to take their minds off the problems of their own and the country and world and just rejoice in something happy!
ReplyDeleteYour wedding day sounds so great. Maybe one of these days when I'm older and grayer, the haters in this country will finally allow me a day like that! (If there's a clown out there who would have me!)
Peace <3
Jay
Hello Jay
ReplyDeleteA bit of escapism doesn't do too much harm, I guess, as long as obscurantism doesn't win out entirely.
Our day was genuinely wonderful, and I'm not just saying that because I'm biased - I hope you do have your day, and just as good a day, sooner rather than later.
Love & best wishes
Sammy B