I've been reminded recently that some things, like men, can't change; nor should they. I'm convinced that as a British nation, decades from now, we'll still be bemoaning our relatively high rates of teenage pregnancy, our innate propensity to binge-drink and our ongoing addiction to working the longest hours in Europe (it is gone midnight as I post this). Aspects of our cultural reputation overseas are, let's face it, not brilliant.

However, just as putting London's Lord Mayor, Boris Johnson, in a suit fails to elevate him beyond the bumbling oaf he resembles (an opinion re-affirmed during my observations of him at the Beijing Olympics), so dressing things up to make them appear anything other than what they truly are is my top PR hate. It's called 'spin'.

Building positive perception of what exists, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter (and challenging for me, I confess, where Boris Johnson is concerned). But where does that leave a common PR calling to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear? Well, best look at what you have - a pig. Not everyone knows that they are one of the cleanest, most intelligent animals that exists. Perhaps they should be told.

So, as I sat recently sipping on a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and observing the pristine shop facades and drift of the well-heeled townsfolk of genteel Royal Windsor, I couldn't help but smirk at the 'little green man' on the main pedestrian crossing. Wrongly installed, he lit up all askew with his nose pointing to the ground and arms up-turned, making like one of the many Heathrow-bound aeroplanes flying overhead.

Did I blame shoddy British workmanship and our confounding ability, always, to ruin the aesthetics of our surroundings? The regimented part of my German psyche certainly did! Compensated simultaneously by the sardonic and very English pleasure I took in seeing such jaunty irreverance amidst such an 'establishment' backdrop.

That momentary shift in my perception will keep me entertained for a fair while yet as I reflect that some things, however irritating, are best left unchanged whilst we figure out how to more positively alter the way we perceive them.

Labels: culture, Perception, PR