At Notting Hill Carnival

[Hidengo 277]

I’m vacationing in London, and my cousins and I went to Carnival for Monday (Note: if you were there and somehow remember seeing a guy in a pink shirt and salmon pants, congrats on passing me in the wild lol)

Anyway, we were walking the street from about noon to just before 5 (leaving just at the cusp of when it actually gets rowdy, apparently), and the police presence wasn’t enough deterrent for men who couldn’t be bother to pay £3 to use someone’s toilet or a porta-potty. 

Pardon me for being Stereotypically American and not knowing any street names, but the first sighting was while we were walking along a super crowded street. We stuck to the sidewalk to avoid most of the crush, but that was also where piles of trash were intermittently located along a wall. I saw a man unzipping as he stopped in front of one such pile, but between moving with the crowd and trying not to look like I was too interested, I didn’t get much of a look.

Next, was along the main street the parade went down. It was a pretty residential area, but there was a corner where there was a store, with what would have been parking space in front, instead of the steps leading up to a house. The corners there were noticeably soaked, and we lingered in the area, following the music from one of the floats. Every so often I turned to take a look, and lo and behold, just as our float was crossing the street, a guy was in each corner hiding it down. 

Third was a stage set up on a side street. There was a sort of wooden structure built to keep revelers out, of one area, but it made a corner with the store wall which was, again, soaked. I had to go a bit myself, but didn’t feel up to doing it behind a crowd. But again, I was on the sidewalk with the main party happening in the street, men older gentleman came up and started talking to someone behind me, who responded affirmatively. Then the older guy faces the corner, where he stayed for at least 90 seconds.

As we were leaving, we took a quieter side street from the main thoroughfare, free of police presence, where some particularly drunk folk were… resting, shall we say. Again, I was walking and making a show of minding my business, but at least three men were unzipping and facing walls.

After a bit more walking (my cousin had parked the car in the parking lot at a mall where he used to work, which was quite a hike away from the festivities), we stopped for a breather, and I moved toward two dumpsters that were a few inches off the wall, where I was finally able to let out about 5 hours worth of water, and a bit of rum.