I'd love to tell you all how it felt...but it's quite impossible. I woke up on Friday morning with no nerves, but with that that Christmas morning feeling...helped along by the door bell ring every twenty minutes. Time passed in a peculiar, disconnected, even timeless fashion before The Cat's Mother gave me a lift to the station for me to catch up with my fellow Working Men and Women at the Calf Pub in Westfield Stratford...a 1 o'clock drink. Walking through the shopping centre, there was a carnival atmosphere...the place was full of curious tourists, soldiers, Olympics Gamesmakers, volunteers, police, I guess a few shoppers...and athletes from all corners of the globe. We sat outside the pub drinking, chatting, singing, cheering, taking photos and indulging ourselves in the party atmosphere for a couple of hours before entering the park.
There was a long walk to our changing area...about as far from the Stadium as you can be...the Park had come alive with people...it was a remarkable transformation from the first time we had been there. Of course the excitement grew as the build up continued until we were called to the stadium at 8.00pm. We were held in the bowels of the Stadium listening to the pre-show stuff, until the countdown began...10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1......we appeared not so long afterwards...and well done everyone who guessed I was an industrial worker...we ripped up the grass and built the industrial world of the nineteenth century. As we came out, the stadium erupted with applause and we were galvanised into action.
You can see me cross from right to left behind the 'Brunels' who are bending down examining the grass...I'm at the back of the pack of Workers, wearing a dirty cream shirt and blue tie round my neck. Roughly twelve minutes in is where to look. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01l4ldk/Olympic_Ceremonies_London_2012_Opening_Ceremony/
We were on stage for 17 minutes....a truly remarkable and unforgettable experience that I shall treasure all my life. And most importantly, The Boy, The Cat's Mother and The Cat were all proud of me...and that matters so much.
