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Saturday and Glastonbury Moments.
By Jim Hutchins
of customers needing some ‘TLC’ and some needing ‘product’! Cathy observed that
James & I can have similar styles when we served the customers. We have a
lot of fun with them without loss of professionalism at any time! Customers
love it and we all have a great time. We get to exercise skills that all
pharmacists have, but bring huge experience of the festival situation. For
example, our experience at Glastonbury is that cromoglycate eyedrops have an
immediate soothing effect in this dusty environment even although it would take
much longer in theory for the anti-inflammatory effect. We get many requests
for a solution to prickly heat (frequently for the first time). Our experience
is that any creams may interfere with the sweating & temperature regulation
mechanisms and make the patient worse. Older sedating antihistamines may be
more effective than modern not-sedating but we need to remind the patient about
the potential effects of drinking alcohol. For many we can only suggest
covering up with loose clothing. We pharmacists can quickly judge when we need
to take patients aside for some privacy, or when it’s important to refer the
patient to the onsite medical services. Todays requests were still eyedrops,
and hayfever products and it was a relief when James arrived with fresh stock
in the afternoon.
After work
I got a chance to catch up with friends. There are so many stages around
Glastonbury that you are never very far from live background music from amazing
bands. I browsed market stalls to a background of Lightning Seeds and Jackson
Browne and chatted outside tents to the sound of Seasick Steve. I caught up
with my children relaxing quietly in the Water Garden in the Healing Field. It
was good to spend relaxed time with them. We found another fresh ice cream
stall to try, as we wandered through the Green Fields. There is no chance of
them ever exhausting the sights, sounds and experiences of Glastonbury and they
are having a great time. They have discovered that the question “Why not?” is
just as good a question as “Why”. They’ve seen huge sculptures, amazing climbing
walls, and lots of street theatre some of which is the festival goers
themselves! My 7 year old son wondered about the naked old lady he saw wandering
through the crowd, but my 10 year old daughter didn’t notice her. It wasn’t the
most amazing thing she’d seen today. I slipped off on my own to catch Red Shoes
at the Queens Head then up to watch The Cribs on The Other Stage. Proper music!
The sun was shining and I settled at the back of the crowd, lying on the grass
and listening to the music. Glastonbury is one of the few places where it’s
still OK for a man of my age to lie back looking up at the waving flags and the
birds circling in the sky!
We settled
up near the tree again for the evenings shows. The crowd finds its own
entertainment too and cheered both hot air balloons and the noisy sausage
balloons our children would let off in clusters at the end of songs. Flagpoles
have become a feature of Glastonbury but the poles are heavily greased to try
to stop people climbing them. Undeterred, some children were attempting them
anyway, cheered on by the crowd. The band on stage were ignored as one of them
finally touched the flag and the audience around us erupted. Scissor Sisters
were back in Glastonbury and did another great set to an almost maximum Pyramid
Crown. Again, at Glastonbury, there are always surprises and my children (and
most of the crowd!) were thrilled when Kylie joined them on stage. I took the
children over to the Acoustic Stage for Christy Moore. On the way, a group of
uniformed police officers huddled together to talk as the crowd started to
move. As they moved together a drunk joined in, putting his arms around them,
shouting “Group hug! Group hug!” As we settled, my youngest slept quietly but
the rest of us stayed for most of a good set. The nearby Theatre Field
pyrotechnics were starting as I took my 10 year old to the toilets (green long
drops, open to the elements). She remarked that she’d never sat on the toilet
before with fireworks overhead! I took the children back to the tent listening
To a belter of a set by Muse. Again, a wonderful surprise as The Edge joined
them on stage to do a brilliant Streets Have no Name!
26 Jun 2010
Today I had to get up early for another shift in Medicine Man Pharmacy. There were a few people waiting when we opened but it tickled along quite nicely ‘til about 11.30. From then until the end of my shift at 3pm we were serving to a wall
The climbing walls aren't just for children.
The Cribs at the Other Stage. Proper music.
The crowd cheered as a little girl succeeded in touching the flag.
Naked ladies, staring at the sky, climbing flagpoles, Kylie, police group hugs, fireworks and a taste of U2. Today was a day of Glastonbury moments.
Last full day tomorrow. L
Jim.
