Looking bored...thankfully!

Tonight I saw a very sorry sight as I drove home: dozens of very bored riot police. One imagines that someone who dresses up in body armour, complete with helmet, baton and shield, does so because there’s something about crowd control that appeals to them. How disappointing for them if the only people loitering with intent are their colleagues. Local radio was warning people to stay off the streets after 4pm today. Dnevni List, one the popular dailies in Bosnia Herzegovina, said Mostar was ‘under siege’, ‘bracing itself’ for the local derby that took place today, and the ethnic tensions it was expected to exacerbate. Maybe they were right, but I went about my day as normal and have nothing unusual to report except what you’ve read already. That and I walked past a very drunk man trying to impress three ladies sitting outside a cafe. It was the old-school walkman he was clutching in his right hand – presumably a counterbalance for the large bottle of Sarajevsko in his left – that really caught my eye. I didn’t see a recognisable football fan, let alone a hooligan. It’s twenty past ten and I’ve just heard sirens starting up outside so I hope all I’ve just written was not premature or grossly misrepresentative. I hope so not as a validation of my opinions and observations but because this town doesn’t need any more violence.

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