Putting it out there… Britain goes al fresco

Thank you to Dollymix for yesterday's hard hitting article on sex in swimming pools. The world needs more of this kind of journalism.

It made me think about a particular phenomenon I've noticed among my friends of late. You see, in about the last 18 months, everyone's gone a bit... al fresco crazy. Not since our teens have so many just-one-glass-of-wine-I-promise meetings opened with the whispered confession - "you'll never guess where I did it last night!"

So where on earth has this strange trend come from, and how has it infected a group of well-brought-up middle-class ladies in their late 20s?

On the whole I'm inclined to think it's a cultural affair. We are British, after all, and surely the entire point of a British summer is to take your clothes off in inappropriate places, whether the weather invites it or not - witness half the men of London proudly displaying beer bellies over their shorts, despite the torrential rain. (Why is it never the six-packs who choose to let it all hang out?)

Still, I hadn't expected the trend to go this far. My favourite recent stories, in no particular order:

-The back staircase in a Soho club
-Richmond Park
-The hard shoulder of the M25
-The changing room in John Lewis
-The car park at Hever Castle (you know who you are)

Is this happening to anyone else or am I just particularly blessed in my social circle?

(No, I'm not naming names, and no, I'm not admitting to any of those stories. Honestly, what kind of girl do you think I am?)