Met up in a bar in 1967 or thereabouts with some old school chums who had all gone to uni. I stood out in regulation sports jacket and slacks, short back and sides etc, whereas they to a man were dressed as Oberon described, with hair down their backs. One of them asked me "Dont you resent having to look just like everyone else?" I slowly looked round the group and smiled. They had the grace to laugh!
Re racism - I dont find any excuse for it even when held as a private opinion (which it rarely is). From the very beginning of my career I had black blokes serving under me and found them every bit as good as their white counterparts. Later on one of the best NCO tradesmen on our tanker squadron was a Sikh ( he also did a good sideline in servicing cars in his spare time). The perception of the services as a safe harbour for racism annoys me. I was staggered shortly after leaving when an acquaintance, on finding out I was ex RAF, said "In that case, might I interest you in joining the National Front?" He got a very swift reply!
Last edited by Tankertrashnav; 29th Aug 2015 at 10:13.