?Ever since Adam and Eve pulled on breeches there's been a connection between wrongdoing and covering up; hoods keep your ears warm but they can also preserve your identity if you want to engage in criminal activity?But as my hoody-wearing son would tell you: good guys and bad guys wear hoods. For every Sith Lord about to destroy the universe there's an Obi-Wan Kenobi battling to save it.
The most evil regimes in history have worn the smartest uniforms. Indeed, you could make a strong case for the most criminal group of people in this country being suit wearers: isn't it people in suits who are largely responsible for robbing pension schemes, selling arms to countries that can't afford them, and starting wars??
I'm grateful to Roy putting a link to this in the comments and to Barky for unearthing it. The full "Thought" on the BBC web site can be found here. I am not sure who Rhidian Brook is (anyone know?) but he is a pithy, challenging writer .... It's an awesome thought for the day!
"The intimidating behaviour of kids in shopping centres is not to be defended; but instead of threatening to exchange their hoods for orange penal suits, maybe we should be asking why they behave the way they do. Is all the anger, boredom and frustration that roams the nation remedied by a change of clothes?
In some ways, I suspect that these kids are not so different to us. They're probably even asking the same questions - How can I enjoy myself? What's it all for? What is real? Maybe the people who are abusing shoppers are not so different to those shoppers, harming themselves buying things they don't need and can't afford. Are they just medicating the emptiness in a different way?"
We were talking about the hoody ban with our 12-year-olds last week. One of them made the point that it's actually quite difficult to buy a casual top in their size that *doesn't* have a hood. Just a thought...
Rhidian Brook is a writer. He was featured in the Radio Times recently as he wrote a new drama for BBC called "Mr Harvey Lights a Candle" which followed a teacher on a school trip to Salisbury Cathedral and the impact of his lighting a candle on the young people he taught. I missed it but I seem to remember somebody blogging about it.
He has also written a book called "The Testimony of Taliesin Jones" which looks like it might be worth a read!