Sticky tape!

[Hewitts]

Absolutely true story this is I promise.

Naval officer and wife from Australia are relocated for a service of duty to the Royal Naval College in Greenwich my old home town.

It is the husbands birthday and the wife has bought a present but only newly arrived doesn't have yet a kitchen drawer with bits of this and that including sticky tape which at the time was called Durex tape in Australia. It is not called that now!!! I guess we caught up with the rest of the world!!!

So my friend goes to the nearest local newsagent and says I need some durex, but as it was nearing Christmas she says I don't want the fancy stuff with Father Christmas and sleigh bells I just want plain durex.

Shop assistant gets extremely flustered and says I think you want the chemist next door.

Thinking that English shops are a bit strange and why would you not sell sticky tape at the newsagent shugs her shoulders and repeats the same request to the chemist next door, who had obviously encoutered the mix up before and redirected her to back to the newsagent for Cellotape.

They lived in Greenwhich for 3 years and the shops were her nearest local shops and she never went near them again preferring to do a round trip of many more miles to get her shopping.

As this story is about 30 years old and sensibilities were very different than they are today can you imagine just how she felt!!!!!

[chirpy]

Hewitts downunder-a very good description of the spot needing the tape.

It was like visiting the hairdresser and being asked--"Anything for the weekend sir?"-and being only 15 years old was very embarrassed'

again the phrase refers to a weak-end.!!!

never went back  for a haircut for a long time afterwards.