BLM

The view of the M&S Sparks card carrying white guy

- IAN KIRKE

I am Gok Wan’s alter ego. If his utterly stupendous fashion sense is North I am South. Where he burns I freeze. Thus, without M&S I guess I would have to resort to wrapping myself in a refuse sack. I am also tight. Vouchercloud is my primary App and my wallet bursts with store discount cards. I have a digital M&S Sparks card on my mobile as I am sure a significant number of other 57-year-old British males have too. Wholly disassociated with my shopping habits I am white and bald. Context on this issue is important.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) as a slogan can be as wide as your imagination allows it to be. Like all pithy statements you may know what it means yet your fellow shopper in the sock aisle may have a different take. Hence, when this is associated with really important stuff like death the variance in opinions can present a toxic bowl of confusion, emotion, indifference, and inappropriate comparison. All pretty inflammatory and potentially ugly.

People have often accused me of having a big ego. I find this intriguing as I don’t think that it’s necessarily accurate. Although wouldn’t all big heads say that? I will admit that I do have an opinion that I like to share, and more importantly, to have it tested. For the people that really do understand me I like to be proved wrong since that is where the learning is.