That burkini!

Anyway, I didn't mean lycra cycling shorts, I mean those long flappy swimwear shorts which were banned (along with a t shirt to stop a back getting burnt).
Anyway, why worry, it wasn't in this country anyway

I think if M&S stop stocking swimsuits and bikinis and only stock burkini (who on earth decided on that name, it is an absolute nonsense!) then that would be the time to worry.

The lovely pool attendant, a young doctor from Cairo- just couldn't understand why Brits refuse to shower- despite being reminded several times (and insulting the pool attendant for reminding them- yes a young man with 100x+ their brainpower)
Because we are all dirty, smelly, unhygienic, disgusting, lazy and really really thick with miniscule brainpower? Although managing to hold down a job to earn enough money to go on a really really expensive holiday?:

I've been thinking exactly the same about the word 'burkini', Jalima!

I confess I haven't read the whole thread but do we have any Muslim grans on here who could tell us their opinion please?

And, if so, could they suggest a better name for the garment?

jane- ask any pool attendant around the world- and they will confirm. The Brits are VERY recalcitrant about showering before entering the pool, both in the UK and abroad. Truth.

This thread is not about the cleanliness or otherwise of the British people, granjura.
You never miss an opportunity, do you?
Goodness knows how you managed to live here for 40 years.

I loved it- and the Brits are so much better at trillions of things- but famous for being very poor at showering at pools, here or abroad. As a director of a private leisure centre for many years, in charge of leisure facilities. It was a nightmare getting the message through at how cholrine and other cleaners could be cut drastically if only people showered- helping with breathing problems, red eyes, etc- and by definition, that pool only had affluent members.

From the Canaries to the USA, Hawaii and South Africa- all over the world, I've talked to pool attendants who just could not fathom why oh why the Brits just refused to shower before entering the pool - despite notices, etc. They were often told to 'f* off* when reminding people.

Several posters talked about the hygiene issue about burkinis, and one compared to the banning of long shorts- and the difference, so my post didn't come out of thin air and makes total sense in the context. A clean burkini is no dirtier than our granchildrens' sunsblock swimsuits.

jalima- I agree the name is just stupid!

NanKate - how can you even begin to compare hala meat and a burkini- I just do not know, truly. It's offensive.

I think I am more worried about little children piddling in the pool

If you eat NZ lamb (perhaps no-one does, but I do like to support NZ) then I believe it is all halal.

Yes. Put me right off when I first heard that.

How on earth did a thread I started because I was amused at M&S's latest swimwear offering morph into another opportunity to knock the unhygienic British vis-à-vis other European nationalities?
We invented the flush lavatory for heaven's sake- thank you Thomas Crapper!???

I must have misunderstood, I thought you were a teacher in the UK , not director of a private leisure centre for many years
- multi-talented indeed!

Please can we stop the nasty swipes at each other. It is tiresome.

Several posters talked about the hygiene issue about burkinis...

I've looked back through the thread and only two people mentioned hygiene issues, granjura - one of them being you. Gross exaggeration doesn't exactly give weight to your arguments.

JessM A bit late to reply to your comment but I have only just read it. I have indeed swum both at Rabbit Island and Tahunanui and the water was gloriously warm every time. Of course, I swim in the sea only in the summer; I am no longer of an age when I feel that I must swim, whatever the weather, just because I am at the coast.

I am sorry Granjura I did not mean to offend you. It was a thoughtless remark.

Agreed mumofmadboys.
Just ignore, let it wash over you, chill!

I'm not sure whose 'swipes' you are referring to mumofmadboys, but when someone (in this instance granjura)makes unjustified, and unpleasant, generalisations about British people, other posters are perfectly entitled to challenge what has been asserted.

You have perhaps not been on Gransnet long enough to realise that such posts from GJ appear with tedious regularity.

Oh I tried to swim in the area once, in the summer, and there was a warm surface layer of about a foot and icy water below.

I thought everyone went in the shower before going in the pool , but I have never stood and watched m I think the same as Jalima so no cutting of chlorine please,

Isn't it a little different to ask pool attendants around the world if people shower before plunging in the pool

only two people mentioned hygiene issues the other one was me
But I do remember that being a rule at some swimming pools.

I can't really see how having a quick splash under a shower at a swimming pool can take off layers of suncream laden with billions of bacteria from the skin. Pointless, really, unless you scrub every inch with anti-bacterial wash. Using one afterwards to rinse off the nasty smelly chlorine from the swimming pool water is quite sensible, though.
Perhaps the pool attendant wasn't really a doctor, if he was he can't have studied dermatology.

www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health/health+news/billions+of+bacteria+live+on+your+skin,25877

although I do pop under the shower before getting in the pool, when you think about it, it is fairly pointless.

Hastily changing the subject - have just checked out the burkini ad. I am puzzled by the statement: Product Length: On the knee - when the picture shows quite clearly that neither the top or the bottom half is knee length (hip length top, ankle length bottoms). WTF are M&S on about?