Giving Customer Satisfaction.

I went to a Sunday market once where there was a stall selling DIY and garden tools. The person operating the stall was an attractive young woman wearing a transparent rain jacket with nothing underneath, and I do mean ‘nothing’ quite literally.

You might imagine that it was the best patronised stall in the marquee, and that the patrons were all men. And you would be right. They were arranged in layers fronting the trestle table, all jostling to get closer so they could pretend to be appraising this hammer for strength, or that trowel for comfort. And many of them were buying things, presumably to salve their consciences and excuse their lascivious loitering.

I asked myself the obvious question: ‘Is this a mild form of prostitution or merely a commercial expedient?’ I couldn’t make up my mind at the time, but I’ve since decided that there is no definitive answer.