HYBRID COMMUTE

There was a man wearing shirt, tie, suit jacket… and shorts… on the train this morning. He’d assumed the usual hunched position over a flipped-open laptop on the seat back tray, typing away, staring at the screen.

I really wanted to ask him.

You can’t do that though can you, especially on the London train! What was his story? A cyclist? No bike on the carriage as far as I could see? Had he had some sort of accident? Possibly, but why carry shorts with you? No, it seemed like a choice. But what choice? Was it suit first or shorts first? I assume he was transitioning into suit rather than transitioning out of it, given the context. Why not pop a pair of trousers on for the train? And why go hybrid at all?

Perhaps an online client meeting during his commute. Top-half business, bottom half ready to sprint through London Paddington for his connection? I will never know.

The 90s band Boys II Men did something similar, I remember. They wore suit jackets, ties and shorts while belting out classics like End of the Road and er… that other one they’re famous for. But they at least were making a point! A very visual point that reflects their brand quite specifically. To emphasise it, they also did the classic key-change where they stood up from their bar stools - a move copied and not bettered by Westlife. Presumably those lads were also making some sort of point, but I forget now what it might have been.

I don’t think this guy was in a 90s boy band. Fair play if he was. He seemed very keen on staring unblinkingly at his laptop and tapping at the keys. The train stopped at Maidenhead and about a thousand people got on, obscuring him. I didn’t see him stand up at Paddington, and as ever, that squeak of brakes and roll into London failed to feel like any kind of uplifting key change. I shuffled off the train with everyone else. I wonder what happened to Boys II Men? I suppose they simply grew up. I quite like to think they got backstage and decided to put some trousers on.

It’s good advice, I reckon. But each to their own.