Today is hot and sunny, despite our continuous joking that summer in England has already passed. Natasha decided to take advantage of the good weather and took the kids and her Mom for a few hours to the Greenwich Park.
The park was full of people on a similar mission, appearing like a scene from Mary Poppins, with children flying kites or running around, people strolling with baby carriages, and even a wind orchestra.
One noticeable difference, though, was a considerable number of men who were lounging or walking around without any shirt on. My female contingent found the practice rather objectionable outside of the context of a beach. Furthermore, driving or walking around nearby neighborhoods, one constantly comes across walking males, coming from a store or pushing a pram, in nothing but shorts and sandals.
Which made us thinking: We don’t recall this being an acceptable practice in the States. In a public park, you may see an occasional guy “sunbathing”, but normally the shirts stay on. On a street, walking with a bare torso is unthinkable.
Do we remember it right? Or have we already forgotten how things are in America and unreasonably find objectionable behaviors in England where the norms are similar in the US?
Plenty of shirtless guys jogging. Luckily, and yes i’ll admit it, most of them are of enviable physique.
I accept jogging. It’s walking on an errand or idling in a public space that I find off-putting…