Discrimination

Firstly I am a man, I am British, have always worked, am heterosexual (with the exception of Wednesday afternoons) and of no fixed religion.

Notice I did not mention the colour of my skin and for very good reason.

I’m sure it has changed as I have grown older. I think I could be a throwback to the Incas or my liver has a lot to answer for.

I am leaping to the defence of youth. I say leap but I really mean stroll. You have to be careful when you are my age. The thought of leaping brings back a memory: I was disqualified at school for leaping too low in the ‘leapfrog over the girls’ competition.

I digress.

Because the boy was wearing what are described as tracksuit bottoms and trainers he was refused admission in to a kids’ dance.

The club rules are so ‘street’ that they refer to them as ‘trackies’. To be fair if the worst thing a lad does when he goes out is to wear very expensive, very clean, presentable kecks and equally expensive shoes then where is the problem? His ‘trackie’ was not tacky. (I’m a poet and I don’t know it).

Establishments are actively discriminating against people purely on their attire.

I know it is hard to believe sometimes but kids are people too.

These people are the drinkers of tomorrow and should be nurtured. The youth are the future income stream of licensed premises and the clubs are giving them a hard time.

The actual words quoted by the club are: smart casual (no trackie/trainers/baseball caps/hoodies).

Surely this covers most of the kids of today. It says nothing of jeans being forbidden. I’ve seen jeans today where you can see the cheeks of a bottom peeking through the rips. Not that I’m complaining.

There are some very nice bottoms but are those jeans not as bad as smart nylon pants? Do they forgive them because they are of the feminine sex I wonder?

Lads’ fashion is also revealing but not attractive. It seems that it is now trendy to wear jeans showing a bricklayers cleavage. Does that get the girls? If a brickie’s cleavage is sexy them I’m a god.

Should I be disallowed on the grounds of public decency?

It says nothing in the rules about turning up in drag so technically I could gain admission wearing Ms Nomates’ dress and no one would bat an eyelid and have to let me in.

That reminds me I need to get a new handbag to match.

Young girls today amaze me, in a scientific way.

They wear so little and with no coats to their name it is a miracle that so many live through the night.

Some don’t even wear tights. What can her boyfriend use if his fanbelt snaps on the way home?

You can’t tell me the young ladies don’t drink alcohol because they do but where on earth do they hide it when they sneak it in? On second thoughts don’t answer that.

The problem today is the assumption of the worst of the young. OK, so there are one or two bad lads but why should everybody else be penalised?

Who remembers Teddy Boys? Who remembers Mods and Rockers? Who remembers the Wombles? They were the real vermin and they could womble free.

Dress code today is more discriminatory than it used to be. Nobody would dare to refuse a person wearing something like a burka for fear of falling foul of some law or prejudice.

We are quite prepared to judge our youngsters because of what they wear and how they might behave, not on how they actually conduct themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, I know how naughty some kids can be. One of my own used to talk with his mouthful but he would never have given a mouthful to his elders.

Think on this. If the boy did anything seriously wrong, they would allow him to appear in court in his ‘trackie’.

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