"Hello, you can't take that out of the venue."

"What did you say?"

"Alcohol is not allowed outside the event premises."

"Why?"

"The law doesn’t permit consumption of alcohol on the road, and besides it’s not good for the prestige of this event."

"So what do with my drink?"

"Finish it or dump it in the bin."

"Where's the bin?"

In my short time here, I've come to know that alcohol is the mainstay of any and every event in the UK. It's as if every event is an excuse to get high.

I was on duty at Taste of London, which is a food festival event. It had two segments, one in the morning and another in the evening.

We had to ensure everybody left the venue after the morning segment, before we then allow people in for the evening segment. There was an interval of two and half hours between both segments.

Most of the time, the people that left the morning segment would go all the way around to queue for the evening segment.

I was part of the team tasked to ensure nobody left the venue with alcohol in their hands.

Fortunately, most of the people were "happy drunks," so dialogue was the only tool I needed to deploy.

I saw a group of four guys heading for the exit gate. They each held a large cup of beer. I moved quickly to intercept them.

I smiled and spread my hands out as I got in front of them.

"Finish that or bin it."

"Is that a challenge?" One of them asked.

"How long do we have?" Another one asked.

I turned and pointed to the bin behind me. "You have ten steps to that bin."

"Challenge accepted," they chorused.

I allowed them to move on. There was a team of SIA personnel close to the bin, and another team at the exit gate. I knew the guys won't get past the SIA team with the alcohol.

I noticed two ladies trying to sneak pass me. They each held a half filled wine glass. I quickly shuffled across to them.

"I was hoping you won't see us," one of them said.

I smiled. "Sorry, but you’ve to finish your drink before you leave."

The other lady held out her wine glass to me. "Will you finish it for me?"

"Sorry, I can't drink on duty."

"Such a shame. Where's the fun if you can't drink?"

"Keeping you safe is fun enough."

"Aww, that's so sweet. Can I hug you?"

I pointed to the wine glass. "You might spill your drink on me."

She lifted her cup, finished her drink, and held out her hands for a hug.

I obliged.

The first lady that spoke also finished her drink and I allowed them to move on.

There was a man and a woman waking together to the exit. The man had an unopened wine bottle in his hand. The woman was with a large handbag.

"Hello sir, you can't take that out of the venue."

He frowned as he looked at me. "I just bought this."

"No alcohol is allowed outside the event premises."

"Do you expect me to gulp this down right now?"

I smiled. "No sir, but you can put it in her bag while you make your exit "

He nodded and patted my shoulder. "Good man."

The woman removed her handbag from her shoulder. "Put it in, there's enough room for it."

I moved on to the next "happy drunks."

Signed

Olumide Holloway (King Olulu).