20/5/2022 His Suit and His Other Suit"Dad wears a suit every day of his life – not a smart suit, just a working suit, though always with a waistcoat. He has this suit and what he calls ‘My Other Suit’, which he keeps for best. Except that one is more worn than the other, they are identical and when the working suit gets too worn the Other Suit is demoted to be the working suit, and he buys a replacement, exactly the same, for best." So the great Alan Bennett described his father's wardrobe. What a difference to today's 'land of plenty' where clothes arrive on the doorstep that are so disposable people don't bother returning or wearing them (hence the now ubiquitous expression 'new with tags').
At the same time we have Marie Kondo telling us to get rid of anything that does not bring us joy - presumably only to replaced by something that, in due course, will meet the same fate once its allure tarnishes. And then in the middle of all this is the fact we are using resources at a quicker rate than the planet can provide, or sustain. So in the same way we used to have milk delivered in reusable glass bottles by electric vehicles and now find both these concepts are back in vogue, maybe we need to think more like Alan Bennett's father on our life (as well as wardrobe) choices? Simplicity can be a planetary virtue. Comments are closed.
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AuthorRichard Marshall is an Accredited Civil and Commercial Mediator with over 25 years experience as a Litigation Solicitor, as well as being a qualified Solicitor-Advocate. He is the founder of Striving to Settle, through which he works as a mediator and provides negotiation training. www.strivingtosettle.co.uk Archives
August 2022
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