The weather has been sensational here the past week. There really is no better place to be when Spring has sprung and the temperatures start nudging 22 degrees.
The only downside is the pathological need for British men to take their shirts off when it gets a little toasty.
Now, if they were built like Didier Drogba – or even ‘Fat’ Frank Lampard – I could understand. If I had chiseled abs like those guys I think I’d be taking my shirt off at the drop of a hat too.
But mostly it’s big guys. Real big guys.
It can’t be to get a tan. The sun doesn’t stay out long enough.
It can’t be to cool down. It only takes the mercury to nudge 18 degrees and the shirts are off.
Can someone please explain?
It’s not just at home either. British backpackers wander around the Sydney CBD in boardshorts like they’re at the beach. And when I crossed into Swaziland I came upon a British guy stropping because the immigration official wouldn’t stamp his passport until he put a shirt on.
This afternoon I was driving down to Sanisburys and spotted a fat bloke out walking with his two young sons. Dad had his shirt off and so did the kids. A British tradition being handed down from father to sons.
If I’d had my camera I would have taken a picture.
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I can’t understand it either, but would really like to know why. It can’t be much cooler without your shirt on, and its not attractive. I saw some old fat guy yesterday wearing just some skimpy shorts (practically boxing shorts) pruning his bush (no innuendo implied) for hours. It was not a pretty sight.
What’s it all about???
London Fields here in Hackney has been full of unfit pale Englishmen without shirts for 3 days.
What is weirder is the couple I saw on the bus on Saturday. In 27 degrees she was wearing a jacket with a fur (faux) collar. He was wearing two hoodies, both hoods up. They both had American pit bull terriers and tracksuit pants on.
Whats even funnier is when they go that lovely shade of red very quickly. Hang in i think i have worked it out, maybe they dont want farmers and truckers tan lines. Or maybe it could be that the british lad thinks he is hot stuff and the entire world needs to see more than bares thinking about.
Caren – you could be right.
BTW did you end up going to the cricket?
listen
when you have spent all that money on Burgers, kebabs Lager and Tattoos you would want to show off what you have got, and same goes for the men !!!!
I just returned from a week on Malta, and sure enough, despite unusually chilly weather (<20C) for the season, there were lots of British chestomaches to be observed.
So, giving the offenders the benefit of the doubt, I’ll say they’re probably just trying to save the world from global warming:
1. Their massive bodies are, at least initially, close to a perfect white. This will of course lead any rays from the sun that hit them to immediately be deflected back into space, thereby lowering the temperature on our planet ever so slightly.
2. By wearing as little as possible, they reduce the amount of laundry that needs to be done. This saves some energy/electricity, and means that the world can get by with fewer coal plants than we would have needed if these sturdy men had chosen to wear their clothes like any sane person would do.
Then again, it may be just a secret society thing.
I think it’s the desperate need for a sun tan, even when there is little sun all it takes is a few UV rays collected over a (very) long period to kick start the classic British look of red lobster.
I think the shirts off phemonenon is central to the whole British ‘jolly good, lets make the most of things!’ mentality. I was just on a long weekend in Majorca, and even though the heavens were spurting rain (the sensible yet undignified Germans were wearing plastic ponchos)and the trees on the foreshore were having trouble deciding whether to horizontal or vertical, there were still large numbers of Brits wandering along, licking icecreams and taking holiday snaps like nothing was amiss. I guess they figure when the sun comes out in London there is no guarantee it will stay… ‘jolly good, better get my nipples in the sun while I can…’