Group Hysteria, for want of a better description, I feel is a very dangerous phenomenon and all my life from being knee high to a Grasshopper have respected it's dangers. I have, since then been very concerned indeed when thrust into a situation beyond my direct control. Let me try to explain..............it all seemed to start when at about nine years old and as an avid follower of Notts County footy club was leaving the ground after a match when the huge crowd surged toward the exit which was much narrower. As a result, and this was very fortunate for me, was lifted off the ground and carried along beyond the exit where the crowd pressure was released and I was able to touch the ground once more. Things would have been much different had I been forced down and probably trampled underfoot which does not bear thinking about.
Recently the "Hillsborough" disaster was remembered and there again crowd surge caused that tragedy. Maybe others of you reading this blogg remember Ibrox park where the shear weight of human bodies actually twisted tubular steel barriers like soft spaghetti, both with fatal results. Travelling along by the side of Nottm Forest ground some time ago at a time when the crowd of fans were leaving, again after a match, was forced to stop by people wandering into the road as though they were invinceable. Common sense and reasonable behaviour seem to evaporate as a crowd intensifies and powerful forces seem to take over.
Again quite recently we have heard of a demonstration where strange behaviour en
sued with fatal results, hysteria resulting from high emotion that probably started out as peaceful protest.
It seems to me that crowds of people do certainly breed the hysteria to which I refer and to that end keep my distance whenever the numbers start to increase.
Was it Lord Byron who once said, "All the World is queer but thee and me and sometimes even thee seems a little queer" ?.....................................................Deepen.
Recently the "Hillsborough" disaster was remembered and there again crowd surge caused that tragedy. Maybe others of you reading this blogg remember Ibrox park where the shear weight of human bodies actually twisted tubular steel barriers like soft spaghetti, both with fatal results. Travelling along by the side of Nottm Forest ground some time ago at a time when the crowd of fans were leaving, again after a match, was forced to stop by people wandering into the road as though they were invinceable. Common sense and reasonable behaviour seem to evaporate as a crowd intensifies and powerful forces seem to take over.
Again quite recently we have heard of a demonstration where strange behaviour en
sued with fatal results, hysteria resulting from high emotion that probably started out as peaceful protest.It seems to me that crowds of people do certainly breed the hysteria to which I refer and to that end keep my distance whenever the numbers start to increase.
Was it Lord Byron who once said, "All the World is queer but thee and me and sometimes even thee seems a little queer" ?.....................................................Deepen.
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