topless dudes on the bus - ban them!

The sun has suddenly appeared! Or should I say reappeared, because I do have vague memories of a time before the grey clouds made their entry on the Swiss sky, a time not too long ago when sunglasses were my main acessory and not umbrellas. I remember the consumption of rosé at the outside tables of cafés and the seaking shelter in the shade in order not to expose my skin to the dangerous uv rays.
Well, that time is here again! And I can't wait to do all those things I wanted to do but couldn't when the rain poured down. Like hang around in parks, go jogging in the morning, discover Geneva's outdoors cafés, have picnics, go for nice evening walks... and maybe, maybe go swimming in the lake. Although I know that the biggest change will be the bad conscience as I waste the day inside instead of going out to do all those things I listed above. As much as I hate bad weather, at least it provides me with a good reason to stay inside and read. I will make a proper effort to spend as much time as I can outside this year, though. I'm in a foreign country after all, and there are things to see and places to discover that I don't want to miss!

And as I do go outside, I will most likely try to avoid using public transport, because that is one of the real drawbacks about warm weather: body odour on the bus/tram/tube! Worst of all are of course the topless guys who use great weather as an excuse to wander around half naked and sweaty. Yes, we know that you don't have breasts, we know that there is nothing sexually arousing about a man's chest and belly (well, in most cases anyway), which apparently makes it socially acceptable to show off your torso anywhere, anytime. Well, if I set the rules for socially acceptable behaviour, there would be no more topless dudes on the bus! Why? Because men sweat, generally more than women, and some seem to bother less with things like personal hygiene. Still these guys think it's ok to let their b.o free instead of trying to hide it with clothes. And no, it doesn't get any less hot because you stop wearing clothes; a loose shirt has a much more cooling effect than the absence of one. I personally find having to be exposed to the sometimes unbearable odour of a sweaty male torso on a bus much more provoking than seeing a pair of naked breasts in a public place. Yet, a woman can't even visit a public swimming pool without wearing a bikini top or she'll be thrown out of the premises (yes, it happened to two girls in Stockholm last summer).
Strangely, it's usually ok for a woman to be topless as long as she's sun bathing. This doesn't always have to involve lying on a beach even; no, you can't even pass a patch of grass in Stockholm in the summer without stumbling over a pair of breasts. As long as they're horizontal, no one seems to mind. If one of these topless women should leave their patch of grass in the same topless state, the toplessnes is no longer socially acceptable and her breasts suddenly become provoking. No logic there if you ask me, but everyone seems to be aware of these rules, because you very rarely see a topless woman on a bus.
Of course, I haven't seen so much of the Swiss summer yet; maybe things are different here...


provoking or just smelly?