It's been a good week for ...
holiday camps
Chalets can be a hard sell. One of my more challenging holiday jobs as a student was working in the sales office at a caravan and chalet park. I didn't have many customers and most of my tasks were administrative and doing laundry for the hotel. So it was very exciting when people came to view.
Sadly, my enthusiasm didn't compensate for my limited sales technique. Then again, luck was seldom on my side.
One rare day, some potential customers came to view a chalet. I beamed and asked them to follow me to the property in question: "I'm in the maroon Cortina" (always classy). The Cortina of course refused to start, so I had to hitch a lift with my clients.
Unfortunately, they didn't get to see inside the chalet. The door had swollen and I couldn't get it open. Profuse apologies could not entice them to return once the door was fixed. Bang went another sale.
However, had I been trying to flog the fancy new chalets that Butlin's is boasting, I'm sure I would have sold a whole village of them.
The happy camp at Minehead has unveiled a £16 million makeover, with some of the old barracks-style buildings pulled down and replaced with 117 luxury villas featuring WiFi and high-spec furnishings.
Butlin's, however, hasn't turned its back on its 80-year past. The blocks are named after the original "houses" at Butlin's, such as Windsor, Tara and York, and prints of vintage Butlin's advertisements hang on the walls.
There's no denying retro chic is on trend. But some things should stay in the past. Definitely the Ford Cortina.
It's been a bad week for ... red
If you'd always thought crimson was king, think again. New research claims wearing red makes men seem angry, aggressive and dominant.
The colour sends a signal in the same way as an irate, flushed face,
Study leader Prof Rob Barton said the results raised questions about the advisability of wearing red in some social situations.
PhD student Diana Wiedemann, who conducted the research, said: "Being perceived as aggressive or dominant may be an advantage in some circumstances but a disadvantage in others, for example where teamwork or trustworthiness is important."
Maybe it's time the Butlin's Red Coats also got a makeover ...
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