When I was a small kid, my Mum used to take me shopping with her. Like most small kids on such outings it wasn’t long before I was bored. I would gaze into the window of whatever shop we had stopped outside, pulling faces in the reflection whilst my Mum gossiped to a friend.
Very very occasionally though, there was something in the window which stopped me pulling faces and got me very excited. I’d pull on my Mum’s hand demanding her attention. When I had it, I would point speechless at the window. There in all it’s colourful and simple glory was a poster, the Circus was coming to town!
I loved the Circus. I knew that in the next few days I would be going to a show. My Mum & Dad ran a greengrocers shop and chances were that by the time Mum and I got back there, my Dad would have a poster in the window. Of course, with the poster came free tickets.
The Circus was smart. A week or so before the Big Top arrived in town, an advance party of Circus folk would visit and enlist every shop window it could to put up a poster. The currency of the exchange was free tickets for the shop owner. The Circus must have given away hundreds of tickets. However, the advertising and publicity were more than a fair exchange.
I was excited. I told all my friends. It was great. I always had a spare ticket or two so I got to choose who I took with me. My friends loved the Circus as much as me and a free ticket was worth a lot. At least in the playground, for that very short window of time. There weren’t many kids whose folk were shopkeepers, so I was a rarity...
By the time the Circus rolled in, the town was buzzing. All the kids who had tickets couldn’t wait and all those who didn’t had mounted a tireless campaign to get their Mum or Dad down to the Big Top and be there when Ticket Sales opened. I don’t remember ever seeing a Big Top with empty seats.
And guess what. My Mum, Dad and I, and a couple of carefully chosen friends; went to the Circus. And it rocked! It lived up to and even exceeded the hype! It was totally awesome. So good that the whole town was sad to see it go. The Circus had, of course; guaranteed a repeat performance next year.
Over thirty-five years later, the world is undoubtably more complicated than it seemed to me as an 8 year old. For sure we are more cynical and the pace of life seems to move a millions times faster. As a kid, the Circus only had one ring, now there seems to be five. The stadium may be a surrogate Big Top, but sadly the tickets are no longer free. Sure, the town is going crazy but I wonder, when it's all done: who will want to see it again?
