Part 1

It’s Bank Holiday Monday, it’s Carnival. I’m keen to go, but need to find someone to go with. Leftwing Idiot’s going – he loves Carnival and goes every year. I asked him last night if I could go with him but he wasn’t massively enthusiastic and said, “I don’t want to have to worry about you, or leave early.”

I won’t need looking after but I will need someone to look out for me because, in addition to the normal considerations, the huge numbers of people and police mean my behaviour has even more potential than usual to get me into trouble.

Just after I’d written this, Leftwing Idiot called, “So what do you want to do about Carnival?” We had a chat and we’re going to go together. We’re heading out in fifteen minutes so I’d better get a move on.

Part 2

Carnival was amazing, such a good day. We nipped in using the canal footpath that meant we avoided most of the really busy bits and headed straight for Aba-Shanti. It’s a sound system I’ve often been to before. It has a positive vibe and attracts a friendly crowd who are not likely to be too bothered by my behaviour.

I love being in a massive group of people all moving together. The bass was deep – I could feel it vibrating through every part of my body. Being in a crowd can sometimes be tricky, with the biggest risk being me bashing other people as I tic. But the energy with which everyone was dancing meant that my movements weren’t too out of place.

We stayed there for a long time. My tics were fairly manageable with help from Leftwing Idiot, Poppy and Fran. Having said that, I did punch a stranger in the head. He’d spotted my padded gloves and kept making boxing gestures at me and copying my movements. I ignored him for a long time until Leftwing Idiot leant forward and whispered, “Just punch him in the head”. I tried to turn away but lost control, ticced, and hit him. Immediately after that I hit Poppy and Leftwing Idiot. No one was injured and we did our best to explain it all to the startled man over the bass and laughter.