All hail Event Man, bastion of our summer sports and shows
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 12:00PM 
While enjoying a pleasant afternoon at Hove watching Sussex play Surrey in the Clydesdale 40 cricket tournament on Saturday, I at one point found myself exchanging pleasantries with a cheerful steward in the stand. In his 50s, he had a ruddy face, what seemed to be freshly-cut greying hair, a crisp blue shirt, chinos and the obligatory mobile earpiece, pass on a neck-ribbon, and walkie-talkied clipped to his belt. These latter accessories seemed to give him and his fellow stewards a sort of self-conscious authority; it was as if they felt the earpiece giving them a benign, protective power over the rest of us.
Reflecting on these men (and one woman), I realised that I had been seeing similar people all summer, at county shows and sporting events. The uniform and manner was almost always the same - a middle-class version of the hi-vis-jacketed football steward, a be-chino'd beefeater of British sport. Events Man, as I think of him, deserves recognition as an emerging national figure, and so, with summer drawing to a close, the MCH officially salutes him - not least for his uncanny ability to always appear as if he had a haircut this morning. Thank you, sir - and see you again in the Spring.
Reader Comments (1)
Ha! A fine missive and a fine spot. I give a little fingered salute ( as though from an imaginary aloft teacup ) to 'em.