Keeping up appearances

It’s Saturday morning and I am flicking through the television channels. On one of the networks a coterie of young fit and tanned men and women are prancing around, semi-naked (it’s 10.30am!), in what appears to be a ‘reality’ programme set in the Caribbean. I’m wondering could my 12 stone, disproportioned body exist in such surroundings. No! I’m distraught. To be realistic – I’m not the most overweight of people. At 37, one has to accept that my body is simply not ‘hot’ to look at. However middle age has given me a licence to rationalise things more easily and there are many heavier than me in the world. We live in a world that accommodates all shapes and sizes.

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In a recent issue of the Guardian (14th August 2009), it was reported that a disabled student won a case against a fashion store, based in London. Riam Dean (22), who has a prosthetic arm, failed to comply with a company rule which stated that all staff had to wear the same clothing. Riam wanted to wear a cardigan to hide her disabled limb but this was against the rule and led to her being taken away from the shop floor where she was secreted away to work in the company warehouse. Not what she had envisaged when she began working for the store.

The rule, known as the ‘look policy’, states that all employees “represent our company with natural, classic American style.” These rules go further and stipulate that staff should have a “classic hairstyle”, and nails should be “no more than a quarter of an inch beyond the tip of the finger… looking great while exhibiting individuality.” Ms Dean ended up taking a case against her employers for being treated unfairly due to her disability and, quite justly, was awarded £9,000.

Whether you are fat, have a disfigurement or are in the wrong age group, you shouldn’t have to hide this fact. Being proud of one’s appearance has taken precedence in life. But that shouldn’t lead to shame. A myriad of mental illness’, such as depression and anorexia, are harvested by the media everyday. The message must be that image is not the most important issue in life. No one person has ‘the look’. Whatever your weight or however flawed you look, love and respect goes further. It’s what makes us human.

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I’ve been having sneezing fits for the last few days, accompanied by scratchy, itchy eyes and am certain that it is hay fever. “Runny noses, watery eyes and sneezing fits are classic symptoms”, confirms Kate Ravilious in the Guardian (14th August 2009). They are caused by “an allergic reaction to the pollen from a particular grass, tree or weed.” She goes on to explain that “pollen forecasts enable hay fever sufferers to prepare for a pollen onslaught by taking medication or planning pollen-avoiding activities.”

In her article Kate tells readers that the economic downturn is adversely affecting the collection of data on pollen levels in the UK. Anyway having had enough of the sneezing and red eyes, I presented myself at the local chemist where the patient was given tablets, Zirtek, and it has made a hell of a difference. Never doubt the benefit of the local chemist. Are you listening Ms Harney?