A Sunday night of a bank holiday weekend, we all know before we even start that there will be guaranteed crowds, plenty of queues and far too much alcohol consumption. Throw in Halloween and the ever popular Cork Jazz Festival and it becomes a whole new level.
Before I start, I did have a very enjoyable night out but what struck me most when venturing from one pub to another was just how many people there were who had no idea where they were. I lost count of the amount of girls with no shoes on which was worrying as there was literally glass everywhere. They all seemed completely oblivious! Another was literally passed out on a bar and what was more baffling to me was that everyone was acting like it was completely normal. The bar staff continued to serve around her, those sitting at the bar near her made little or no attempt to bring her home. It’s not to say that I have never drank too much because I certainly have and I’m sure there will be times in the future where I do again but it bothered me that this particular girl was just left there in quite a vulnerable state. Maybe I’m just getting older but I thought it was awful to watch.
Walking down Oliver Plunkett Street on our way to get a taxi looked like a real life zombie walk. People were so drunk they had that glazed look in their eye, wondering aimlessly. It’s far from amusing but with the various Halloween costumes people were wearing it really did look like some kind of a zombie film.
Just to point out, the Jazz is great and Halloween is great. Neither of these occasions were to blame for the spectacle and I’m sure most weekends are similar (minus the costumes) but when you take a step back and look at just how much people drink it’s baffling…
On that note, Happy Halloween!
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