Shock and ordinary
Reactions to the Russ-Ross affair reveal a generational divide. On last night's ´óÏó´«Ã½ News at Ten, my colleague David Sillito demonstrated it beautifully when asking the views of people queuing for the Alan Titchmarsh TV show and others lining up to see 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks'.
The former were outraged by the antics of the Radio 2 presenters. The latter, broadly, felt we should all get a life. "I think it's quite funny - I think everyone should lighten up", said one young woman.
Analysis of the texts and emails sent to Radio 1Xtra echoes the point. Four out of five responses were in support of the pair. A more general sample of the audience online saw the findings reversed.
We should not be surprised, but I wonder if this generation gap is exposed because we are increasingly witness to people trying to close it.
The young have always taken to shocking their elders. It is an arc within the circle of life - the bit where one finds green hair, loud music and loose morals.
The occupants of this territory imagine they are the first settlers, that their behaviour is more outrageous than any that has gone before.
Little do they realise that their "challenge to the very fabric of society" is but a phase - they will almost all conform eventually. They will grow out of it, as my mum used to say.
We need young people to behave like this, to stir things up. Society could calcify and seize up without a little agitation.
But what happens if the maturation process stops? Imagine legions of callow youths still determinedly trying to shock as they enter middle age. It would be an offence to nature.
The youth market is necessarily mercurial. People who once understood it intimately wake up one day to realise they are baffled.
And yet in our media and in business 30, 40 and sometimes even 50-somethings are expected to appeal to this generation.
The answer often is to reach, metaphorically, for the green hair dye, whether that is chefs who swear, jocks who shock or simply men, (and women) behaving badly.
I'm 
Comments
or to comment.