Peter Rhodes on kilts, kidneys and a building society buying a bank
The purchase of the Co-Operative Bank by the Coventry Building Society brings glittering promises about creating “a values-driven organisation.” Personally, I'd be happy if we kept the Coventry's local branches and got rid of the Co-Op's endless badgering to convert my free current account into an “extra” account with monthly charges.
Optimists hope such mergers will bring the best of both organisations. But cross-pollination is not always successful. As I read the Cov/Co-Op proposals, I was reminded of the great writer George Bernard Shaw, propositioned by a society beauty who said if they had a child together it would inherit her perfect body and Shaw's magnificent brains. “But what,” asked the great man, “if it inherited my body and your brains?”
One of Taylor Swift's dancers, Kameron Saunders from Missouri, says he feared “cultural appropriation” by wearing a kilt on stage in Edinburgh. But he was assured by a kilt salesman that he could wear the tartan with pride. I was reminded of a friend who bought a house in Scotland and was told at a kilt shop that, even as a Sassenach, he was entitled to wear two tartans, one for his surname and the other for simply living in Argyll. As Wikipedia tells us, the kilt “may be worn by anyone regardless of nationality or descent.” Especially when there's a sale involved.
