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| Reminded me of the PM after spending a day on the beach in Cornwall (Roboppy via Flickr) |
David Cameron went to Cornwall on his holibags – good for him, so did we. New pictures showed him bare chested, sunburnt and struggling to get his soggy swimmers off under a beach towel. He’s one of us after all.
But if you take a closer look at our Prime Minister, you’ll see he has an extraordinarily hairless torso. Not, of course, that my knowledge of these matters is exhaustive, but I’d say that was fairly unusual.
Of course, there is a fashion for the waxing of the man chest among the young. It’s not one I approve of so I’m crossing everything for it being a passing fad.
What I found myself wondering about was whether or not Dave has a mobile waxing person on speed-dial. “Hi Is that’s Smooth Suzi’s hair removal? Dave here. Could you pop round to Number 10 to remove the rug again?”
Of course, there’s a theory that what someone does in their private live has nothing to do with the public. But, reality has shown that it’s just that, a theory.
What we know about how people spend their time and money, the choices they make, have a bearing – at some level or another – on what we think about them. It doesn’t, generally, stop them doing what they do, but it changes how we view them.
For many people it doesn’t matter a jot, but Mr Cameron depends on the public’s opinion of him, his policies and, yes, everything else about him. The end result doesn’t matter, but I, having pondered it, think slightly less favourably about a grown up man with a proper job vain enough to get his chest waxed.
Compare and contrast, the shocked reaction to a woman who willfully grows her armpit hair. Is the strength of feeling because of her apparent slovenliness, or because she’s breaking some deep-seated rules of normality?
And anyone who says private choices and actions have nothing to do with public office might like to consider MSP Bill Walker who was convicted of abuse against his three ex wives and his step daughter, yet who is still a member of the Scottish Parliament. Is that all OK? Are you people of Dunfermline happy with your elected member? Thought not…