… now would that be soothing sight …

Sometimes less is not more. “Why are they doing it?! Do you women find this attractive?” This morning on our prime recreational island (“Donauinsel“) most of the male early morning joggers were flaunting their naked upper bodies. My partner, well brought up as he is, was sporting a cycling top and assorted black pants, while asking me the above question. He doesn’t understand of course, because he is a cyclist and cyclists have a uniform. And if there is a uniform and you are not wearing it, you look like a clueless beginner. So cycling gear is what saves the eye from semi-nude cyclists.

Since there seems no such attire for the contemporary running man, best to strip. Obviously. Last year the ratio of clothed to semi-naked turned out a tiny bit in favour of the clothed bunch, but this year, the only place you’re likely to see a shirt on a male jogger, is in his hand.

Fact is, about 95% of the naked male upper bodies running around this summer would look a lot better in a shirt. And the remaining 5% would look a lot classier. It is simply unkind to expose arbitrary fellow humans to your nakedness.

You think it’s the tanning factor? How great is a brown torso over a white-pinkish groin going to look? There is a nudist beach on Donauinsel, where you can get an overall tan, so why do the stripy thing?

I suppose it has to do with the current selfie mania and taking shots of yourself in front of the bathroom or the gym mirror. Thankfully we live in a time of rapid change. So: What will replace selfie-ism? And do we have to go through a phase of the semi-naked man in public spaces and transport before that?