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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be pissed off the Team GB parade through London is on a Monday?

75 replies

HokeyCokeyPigInAPokey · 07/09/2012 11:50

what happened to inspiring a generation?

All the kids are back at school.

My dcs would love to go and see this as i am sure lots of others would who will be at school or working.

Surely this should be on a weekend?

OP posts:

galletti · 07/09/2012 23:25

Gold - Monday is a very quiet day in town. Just the commuters/us workers. Not much tourist traffic. Sunday can actually be busier because lots of people come in to shop/sightsee etc.

wherearemyGOLDsocks · 07/09/2012 23:39

Not where I live it's not and I live less than 5 minutes walk from part of the route. And as much as me and dd want to go and see the parade even if we didn't I would still keep her off school as her school is the other side of the route and I don't fancy trying to get across it at pick up time.

QuinionsRainbow · 08/09/2012 11:38

As it's Team GB, why does it have to even be in London?

heyannie · 08/09/2012 11:55

Capital city, Mayor of London's office is running the event, this is probably the only time in most of our lives that the Team GB parade can also be held in the host city of the Olympics, the infrastructure is already there (they are using the spectator stands from the paralympic marathon the day before), many of the volunteers and people involved are likely to still be in London perhaps. Can't please everyone. If anyone is interested, there is also a parade of Scottish Olympians in Glasgow on Friday :) But it's still a school day. However there will be an opportunity for Scots to see the best person in Team GB, Chris Hoy. Yorkshire should do their own parade too.

TunaPastaBake · 08/09/2012 11:58

Alot of towns/cities have already had a 'Welcome Home' for their own Olympians

YoullLaughAboutItOneDay · 08/09/2012 13:32

It's in London because that's where the Olympics were hosted.

Honestly, I would be with you on a lot of the victory parades for cricket, rugby etc. But this one has a genuine geographic link.

fuckwittery · 09/09/2012 08:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

2rebecca · 10/09/2012 13:41

I can see why the athletes and organisers want it today so that then people can go home and get on with normal life, be with family etc. It's televised and is more a token parade for those who are able to see them to see them. To those of us in Scotland it really doesn't matter which day it is and I suspect scottish athletes want to get the parade over and return home.

Eliza22 · 10/09/2012 16:16

It's ridiculous. It's a piece of history happening right before our eyes and all the school kids missed it.

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 10/09/2012 17:13

There we are.

Now the Olympics and Paras are over, we are back to our national sport called Moaning.

Watch the highlights.

Hopeforever · 10/09/2012 17:52

2rebecca, it is over. Happy?

It was much more than a token, it was amazing and the athletes seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

So glad we took DD out of school. What a memory

2rebecca · 10/09/2012 18:01

I am always happy!

Original poster

HokeyCokeyPigInAPokey · 10/09/2012 19:03

I'm glad you enjoyed it hope wish i had taken dd out of school for the day.

OP posts:

McHappyPants2012 · 10/09/2012 19:12

why couldn't the closing cermonies be on a saturday and the parades on a sunday

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 10/09/2012 19:35

Er....because there would not then have been time to fit everything in?

McHappyPants2012 · 10/09/2012 19:39

so start the olympics a day earlier, then the parolypmpics could start a day earlier.

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 10/09/2012 19:43

Bit late now isn't it?

However, I'm sure the organising committee in Rio would be happy to consider your suggestions :)

complexnumber · 10/09/2012 19:48

ffs McHappy, it wasn't all about the closing ceremonies! (Tbh, I can't remember which day of the week the Olympics closed)

Somehow, nearly a million people did manage to make it a hugely succesful event today.

Obviously our future Olympic/Paralympic teams will not be as strong as they could have been, as some poor mites were not able to watch the closing ceremony live (as opposed to on the telly).

heyannie · 10/09/2012 20:17

Start the Olympics on a Thursday? The Paralympics starting mid-week went down so well eh. The Olympics needs to accommodate the world, this parade was a celebration for the GB athletes only, some fans could make it, some had to make do with TV or radio. Some people broke the rules and skipped school, others didn't want to risk it. No one died. School kids aren't the centre of the world, they had ample opportunity to get involved and inspired over the past few months, just because they are missing out on one thing it's not the end of the world. They probably wouldn't have seen much anyway. I'm 5'3 and would have struggled in the crowd, and was standing for 5 hours or so, had a good vantage point but it was hours of waiting for only about half an hour of procession. That's fine for adults but for kids, the potential for boredom and tantrums was high. That wouldn't have been great for kids or people looking after them, nor for the other spectators. I saw there were some kids who managed to get to the front of the crowd, which is nice for them, at least they got to see but if there had been thousands more kids it would have left a lot of disappointed ones. There just wouldn't have been enough space for them all.

There were plenty of spectators on the street, it was a success, people who didn't get to see it can watch the tv highlights or buy a paper, they will get over their disappointment. 1000 school children got to see it, unfortunately not everyone can be accommodated. It's good that it's today, it offers closure and a nice round off. Dragging it out for a week would have been annoying.

CaurnieBred · 10/09/2012 20:27

I took DD (7) out of school (who refused to authorise it - even though it was only for half a day as I sent her this morning so she would be there for that registration).

I am glad I did so, even though it was unauthorised: I gave her the choice when the Headteacher told us but she still wanted to go.

We went to Trafalgar Square. I saw the parade as it went throught the City on the screen but didn't see a huge amount of it as it went past the square as I was too busy supporting DD as she stood on a bollard but, to me, the whole point was that she could see; that she was there; and that she would remember it - nothing like that will happen in my lifetime I imagine, but maybe she will be lucky.

Redbindy · 10/09/2012 21:40

Loved it. I took the day off work to recover from Bestival and just chilled out watching the brilliant athletes on telly, what great timing.

Eucalyptus44 · 10/09/2012 21:49

I very nearly took my four year old grandson but read the dire warnings about vast, impenetrable crowds so instead we had our own private Parade Party in front of the TV with his small army of play mobile athletes complete with wheelchairs. We live-paused to make some muffins to put in Union Jack cases. He kept running off to do another one of his Olympic sports. I was glad to hear that huge groups of London schoolchildren had allocated seats. Although we missed the buzz and the crackling atmosphere, it was probably a better experience for a small boy than being in a big crowd. Enough! (but I did want to tell someone about it!)

OhlimpPricks · 10/09/2012 22:14

If anyone had wanted for their children to be part of history, then there have been plenty of opportunities over the last month. Some you needed tickets for, some you could see for free, like the marathons and the cycling, and big screen relays shown in London parks and parks around the country. As other people have said, whilst children are integral to the future of the games, the logistics and planning cannot revolve around them. Many other factors have to be taken into consideration.

If the parade had been held at the weekend it would have been a nightmare as there would have been twice the number of spectators. Also, you could not have delayed the parade for another week. London has to get back to normal. Although there has not been the total gridlock that was predicted, there has been disruption to the city. People live and work here, and whilst the majority have been more than eager to get into the spirit of things, it will be good to get back to normal

Hopeforever · 10/09/2012 23:25

By the look of the TV coverage there wasn't any more space left for spectators

frostyfingers · 11/09/2012 08:24

Blimey what a lot of moaning. I'm sure there were valid logistical reasons for yesterday, one being that at least the Paralympic atheletes were all in situ, most of the infrastructure was in place and the whole place was still buzzing. We live miles away, couldn't get to London at all but watched loads on telly and watched the parade last night. I thought it was great, the whole thing and am sad it's over, but still feel as though we've been involved.

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