metrocentric | Jun. 5th, 2005

From yesterday. What this fails to convey is quite how utterly the occupants of Traf. Squ. were failing to pay heed to this fellow. I have cropped the photo, and while there were several more of those folding camp chairs (One has to be British to understand what despondency the merest hint of camping can trigger) to the left, they were as empty as those behind him. It's possible to develop a fantasy that the two kids perched on the granite behind were transfixed in rapt attention, but it would be just that. Having captured the image I thought I ought to stop for a minute, just to take in a little of what he was saying. Then I realised that he was in fact a kind of anti-orator, everything about content and delivery conspired to render one interested in anything but. He wasn't irritating, annoying, maddening, or repellent. He just... wasn't. At the point at which he said, in his unrousing monotone "I will now explain three things...", I had to leave. There's obviously no break-even figure for booking the Square - just find a free slot and it's yours, like hiring a function room above a pub.

If only all religious enthusiasts were like this. There would be no more holy wars and nations would have to think up proper excuses for duffing each other up for their natural resources.