The shop where I was working was hit badly by the crisis and had to close down. Although it was a local shop, it had a lot of costume in its day and it worked with a lot of suppliers and dealt with huge amounts of stock. When I lost my job about 6 months ago, I decided it was time to reshape my life and thought that part time would give me what I need now at 49. Well, since I started looking I have not been called to that many interviews but when I have, I have not got to the final stages. Whenever I’ve asked for feedback I’ve been told that my background is good and that I have a good record (I’ve very good references from my old job) but … nicely it always gets to the point when physical appearance and age appear in the scene. Right, left and centre we hear about equal opportunities, rights, no discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex … but the sad truth is that some of us are left out of the equation no matter what.