[winston optic beer]

When on holiday while our kids were very young, we tended to go to accessible busy beaches. On one occasion at such a town beach in the Canaries, a couple near us stepped out of their swimming costumes without the bothering to cover themselves before dressing. Nobody seemed at all perturbed by this casual display of nudity. It appeared that only my wife and I had noticed.

We never spoke about the incident, but it started a little competition between us over rest of the afternoon. It was a game to see who could be the biggest exhibitionist when changing in and out of wet swimwear. We probably changed costumes a lot more than was strictly necessary.

Surprisingly, like with the couple earlier, hardly anyone paid us much attention. There was possibly one or two guys having a sly peak at my wife, but no one else appeared to notice. By they end of the day, we’d both stood up naked for at least for a moment or so. For obvious reasons, I was a little more circumspect, so I think she was the winner. No doubt, I would have given her a suitable prize later on when the kids were asleep.

Fast forward a few years and we went for a dip on an English south coast beach with our kids, now about 8/10 years old. It was a small pebbly beach at a downmarket seaside resort where a main road and walkway typically runs along the back. There were plenty of people about in little groups on the beach and walking along the prom. When we arrived our youngest made a fuss about changing into swimming trunks, complaining as usual that people might see him.

When it was time to go, my wife, still sitting on her towel, pulled down her one piece swimming costume to her waist before putting on her bra. Then she pushed the costume down her legs and put it away in a bag. As I watched and looked around, to see who else was watching her, she made no attempt to cover herself. Sometime during this process, she said to our youngest “look, son, if I’m not bothered about people seeing me changing, you certainly shouldn’t be a wimp about it.”

You know, I don’t think I ever heard him complain about changing again. I expect, the poor kid was terrified his Mum might embarrass him by doing another striptease in public.