Springwatch, M&S and ageism: things I learned in June

Here's a selection of things I found out last month. Random stuff that is too good not to share.

Chris Packham likes slugs

I spent most of June watching Springwatch, as much for the presenters as for the birds’ nests. And I saw Chris Packham getting very excited about tree slugs. I love Chris Packham – maybe it’s his Aspie eccentricity, maybe it’s his cheekbones, maybe it’s because he goes on about the Clash – but I draw the line at this. I know slugs can climb. I’ve seen them on my walls.

I would rather watch ducklings jumping out of a tree.

Marks and Spencer aren’t listening

I went to Marks and Spencer to buy Husband some red T-shirts, because he’s run out. Afterwards I had a browse in the women’s section. Everything looked like the sort of thing some young buyer thinks middle-aged women like. So I posted on Twitter: ‘Blimey, the clothes at @marksandspencer are frumpy. No wonder they're in trouble.’

It touched a chord: lots of people agreed. My peers are frustrated at the lack of quality in a retailer we used to trust. My pet hate is the badly cut jeans. I used to rely on M&S jeans but I can’t find any now that fit.

Someone posted a picture of M&S’s new ‘mom jeans’ and we all went ‘yuk’. Surely no-one buys jeans to look like a ‘mom’ (or even a mum). You buy jeans because you want to look like James Dean, or the Ramones.

Eventually I said ‘I hope they take notice’. At which point, the M&S social media people replied chirpily: ‘What is it you're looking for when you visit – any particular styles, fabrics or colours? Our Buying team love hearing what our customers are after :)’

Which showed they hadn’t been listening. So I told them. And instead of being grateful that they were hearing directly from their core demographics – and maybe acknowledging our problems – they tried to close off the conversation by saying: ‘We're all different and if you can imagine how many tastes we have as a nation, that's an awful lot of potential styles we could offer! Thanks for your suggestions.’

So I replied: ‘Please don't patronise us. You have a ready-made focus group here and if you don't take us seriously you'll keep losing sales.’ They didn't answer that.

The UK is ageist

Well, I didn’t actually learn this, obviously, because it’s obvious. But anyway, someone did a study that showed that: ‘ageist views are held across the generations, and that an ageing society is viewed by many as a challenge rather than an opportunity.’

They’ve made some sensible recommendations – like outlawing the words ‘anti-ageing’ in cosmetic ads. Because we’re worth it.

And finally…

Some things I liked on Twitter.

This one via @JoolzDenby:

And this from @Ageist: