The Circus Man

Late Saturday afternoon over on the Southbank near the Royal Festival Hall we, the crowd, gather round to watch a circus man in striped trousers as he attempts to get his whole body through a tennis racket. He knows how to play the audience. If we don't clap loud enough he makes us do it again and we dutifully clap louder. He gets us to clap in time to his animated footsteps and we try and keep in time as he runs on the spot. He's a great entertainer is the circus man.

Unfortunately the chav behind me doesn't agree. He keeps shouting, "get a job" and thinks his comments entertaining. He also refers to the tennis racket as a cricket racket. It's funny because I thought the circus man was working and doing his job well. And I wonder what kind of job the chav fool does, a man so intelligent he thinks cricket is played with a racket. His shouting "get a job" brings it back to me why it's good not to get a 'proper' job. It shows a lack of imagination. Mind you having a job means I can put some money in the circus man's hat after he gets his dislocated shoulder through the racket and wriggles his way into getting the racket right down to his feet. 

It reminds me that it's better to be a part of something than standing on the sidelines snearing. It's 2009, cynicism is on its way out my friends.