Loose shorts, no nickers.

A little light Sainsbury’s on a sunny Thursday afternoon and I have to say loose shorts with no knickers is a little thrilling; freedom tinged with apprehension. Quite the opposite of the black lycra clad Olympic athlete who, had I bought a decent sized Taste the Difference courgette, I could not have competed with. Strangely though no attractive women, plain at best. Anyway uni applications are down 8.8% due to increased fees so there are now only slightly more places than applicants. That sounds fine but as applicants for textile design aren’t likely to change to criminology unis are likely to have a similar drop in income, and if university economics are as tight as that athlete’s lycra suit some unmentionable tackle will become evident. That, the elephant’s todger in the room if you talk to anyone involved, is money. Universities are as corporate as Microsoft or Man U. It’s not ‘all about the fans’ or ‘all about the students’ or all about Windows 8 for that matter, it’s all about the money, or more accurately about the wage bill. In these last two weeks UK Inc has won more Gold Medals than the USA and everywhere else in the world apart from China, won by enthusiasts who love what they’re doing not for the £1++,000 a week of footballers, who incidentally last won World Cup gold in 1966. There’s a clear message here. Don’t shop at Sainsbury’s on Thursday afternoon unless you can subtly display elephantine equipment. Loose shorts and no knickers may be comfortable, even thrilling, but they can’t compete with showing the world the best of what you’ve got.