Get Yer 'Aircut!

My grandfather's last words to me were "Get yer'aircut!"  At the time I was, allegedly, a student and long hair was almost revolutionary in the workplace so when it came time to seek employment I complied. Once I'd got the job, however, I let my hair grow again and no one seemed to mind. Incidentally, this was a time many moons ago when only men wore suits and women were not allowed to wear trousers in the workplace. Not that I'm a woman, but I was amazed when one of my female colleagues was sent home by the manager for this heinous offence. These days, all sorts of weird hairstyles, trousers and non-trousers are worn to work.

I was amused therefore to stumble across this clip from BBC Panorama in April 2010 in which Lord Digby-Jones tells two lads to get their 'aircut if they want to get a job. Both lads are reasonably articulate and say they are willing to smarten up for a job interview and even to get a haircut if offered a job. Meanwhile, look at Lord Digby-Jones. He's wearing a suit, but what a state he's in!  He's overweight and his gut is bursting out of his shirt; his hair looks awful and if anybody needs to visit the barbers it's him!

Fat, scruffy, middle-aged old fart, or what?