This bear is called Wish You Were Here designed by Nick Mason of Pink Floyd fame and it’s at the O2!
That’s easy, Mummy thought – she’s been there many a time for concerts.
Again, Mummy did caution on the safe side since she had to go quite far and if it’s just George, it would be easier.
So on the tube they went. Mummy carried George on the escalators – as instructed.
It was a long rather boring ride.
They got out at the North Greenwich station and asked at the Information Booth if they knew where Paddington Bear was and was told – there’s no such thing. They were terribly amused by Mummy’s question. Guess not everyone is aware of their existence.
So Mummy and George went searching for it on their own – hoping that the bear had not been taken away – just like what had happened to the Mercedes Benz bear.
Along the way Mummy noticed these markings on the ground which she had never noticed before – probably because every time she has been there, it’s been full of people rushing to the arena – a somewhat appropriate quote.
And at that point, after a long tube journey, Mummy wondered what they were doing there and wished she was home.
They searched all over the grounds but could not find the elusive Paddington. She thought to ask security and was informed that the Bear was indeed inside – but pointed at dinky George and said NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED in the building.
Once again Mummy offered to put George in the carrier bag – all she wanted was a minute to run in and take a photo. But security repeated “no dogs are allowed inside the building.”
Why? Because “dogs are not allowed” – they were told.
Basically security did not know the reason why.
Long story short, they did not get to see what we hoped was our 49th Paddington Bear – aptly called “Wish You Were Here” – yeah, we wished too we were there. 🙁
George left out in the cold. Bah Humbug!
May’s comment: I was asked to speak to the O2 Box Office – which I did.
The man at the Box Office window was surprised that we were not allowed in, especially when he saw the size of George. He came out to speak to security and was baffled by what he was told. He went to call Management and after a long discussion with them he came to apologise and suggested that I speak to Customer Service.
To make matters even more annoying, security gave me the wrong number to call. The man at the window gave me the number.
As I rationalised with the man at Customer Service – he said that’s the company policy and he doesn’t know why as he did not make the rules. His superior would not speak to me – they already knew of my request and would make no exceptions. It’s partly because they could not contradict the security’s words “NO DOGS ALLOWED” but could not rationalise why.
My guess is there’s a connection that O2 is managed by an American company where in the U.S. “health and safety” rules are very stringent. When we were in New York, they would not even allow Darcy to sit under the table when we dined outside – she had to be on the other side of the barrier! Not very “safety” orientated for the dogs. Come to think of it – equally not “healthy” to eat outside with cars passing by – fumes and all.
The “health and safety” rule is usually an excuse for management not wanting dogs on their premises – because it inconveniences them, because their clients may complain and so they don’t want to have to deal with them – and usually people who do not like dogs are a bit suspicious to begin with! 🙂 And sometimes it’s simply management doesn’t like dogs.
“Health” applies mainly to where food is being prepared within a certain distance – otherwise no restaurants could ever allow dogs in.
“Safety” in this case might apply to George as he’s so small he might get trampled on. But I understand that there are dogs that are badly behaved.
At the end of the day, it’s only a Paddington Bear Trail. I am aware that there are a lot of irresponsible dog owners. I see the evidence of them everyday walking my dogs – bags of dog poo lying on the pavement and even worse – not picked up. And then there are the horrible owners with uncontrollable dogs. They do not help the cause of making our dogs welcomed.
I love going to places with my dogs and happier for it. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but we know that dogs usually bring out the best in most people. If only we can bear that in mind and try to make it work.
