打破西裝革履公文包 揹包客自由上班族
On my first day as an editor in the London office of the FT after 15 years in New York, I arrived in what had been my standard Manhattan workday uniform: dark suit, no tie, rucksack hanging off one shoulder. As I found my desk and sat down, a new colleague spun around in his swivel chair, pointed at my bag (now dumped on the floor) and said, “Does that thing have Disney characters on the inside?”
在英國《金融時報》紐約站工作15年後，我調任倫敦總部任分析編輯，上班第一天，就身穿曼哈頓工作時的標準行頭來到辦公室：黑色西服、不繫領帶，單肩斜揹包。找到自己的辦公桌坐定後，坐在轉椅中的一位新同事轉過身來，指着我的揹包（已擱放到地上）說，“這玩意兒裏面放了迪斯尼人物圖片嗎？”He was – mostly – kidding but the subtext was clear: that rucksacks are for schoolchildren, not grown men in suits. He may have been on to something. But I just could not see myself as a briefcase man.
他說的應該是玩笑話，但潛臺詞一清二楚：帆布揹包是學生娃、而非衣冠楚楚成年男士的行頭。他或許覺得茲事體大，但本人就是不把自己看作拎公文包的白領。It turns out I am not the only one. Indeed, an entire market has grown up to cater to those adults among us who like to carry their work on their back, leaving the hands free to hold, say, a broadsheet newspaper, not to mention preserving their musculature by not being weighed down on one side.
實際上，本人並非唯一的白領揹包客。勿庸置疑，如今的市場已今非昔比————不斷迎合那些把所有工作行頭裝進揹包、而騰出雙手拿大幅報紙（內容較嚴肅的報紙）的白領一族，更甭提把另一個肩膀解放出來的好處了。
Still, I accepted the point that perhaps my particular rucksack, purchased from a hip East Village emporium a few years ago, was not the best for someone who wants to be taken seriously in the City or during an important interview. So I decided to test what’s available, at settings from the school gates to the office.
儘管如此，我仍接受如此觀點：本人幾年前在紐約東村(East Village)某時髦商場購買的那個揹包，對於那些在倫敦金融城(City)上班或是參加某重要面試、希望遭人高看者來說，也許並非最佳行頭。因此，我決定從學校大門到辦公室的各個場合，現場測試一下何爲最適合的揹包。Beginning with the most attention-getting rucksack, Gucci’s black convertible number (£2,430). At 42cm high and 50cm wide, it is so large that a few people compared it to a giant leather bin liner. In fact, it is less a rucksack than a very large bag with detachable straps. As I dropped off the children for school, a pair of mothers stopped me and gave it an inspection worthy of the guards on the US-Mexico border, examining its inside zip, skinny straps and spring hooks.
我決定先從最吸引眼球的揹包————售價2430英鎊的古馳(Gucci)黑色可轉換雙肩包入手。這款揹包42釐米高、50釐米寬，屬特大號揹包，因此有人把它喻爲巨型塑料垃圾袋。事實上，與其說它是揹包，倒不如說它更像是配備可拆卸帶子的特大號袋子。我在學校門口攔住上學的孩子時，幾位家長上來阻止了我，就像美國墨西哥邊境的警衛一樣仔細檢查我的揹包，查看內置拉鍊、皮帶子以及彈簧鉤。“You’re going to get mugged wearing that thing,” one said.
其中一位家長這樣說道：“您背這名貴包會遭搶劫的。”The mothers had clearly spent more time thinking about such issues than I had, and they helped me identify the bag’s shortcomings: first, it has no zip at the top – there is a single spring hook instead – so you would not want to carry anything too valuable in it on a crowded street; second, it is so deep that all your belongings sink to the bottom. On more than one occasion I found myself dropping to one knee and rummaging through it to find my keys. Moreover, according to the mothers, it looked like a woman’s bag – and had many of the problems that they experience with their own bags.
很顯然，考慮此類問題，學生媽媽比我花的時間更多，她們幫我找出了這款包的缺點：首先，包頂端沒有拉鍊（只是一般的彈簧鉤），因此不敢裝太貴重的東西行走在人頭攢動的大街上；其次，包太深了，所以擱的東西都落到包底去了。曾有好幾次，我自己不得單腿跪下來，使勁翻找自己的鑰匙。更有甚者，媽媽們說，這款揹包酷似女包，而且與她們自己的手包一樣，使用起來問題多多。Still, the leather was nice.
然而，她們說包的皮質挺不錯。More practical was Cote & Ciel’s Isar Rucksack Twin Touch Grid (£255). The model I tried had padded leather shoulder straps, and the side that touches your back was soft and very comfortable. Ergonomically, it was the best bag in my test samples, with well-cushioned compartments for a laptop or iPad. But it had two drawbacks: even on a cool night, the bag seemed to generate heat, and my back began to pour with sweat – the result, I assumed, of all the padding that made it so comfortable; and because of the shapeless exterior bag, I found myself again down on one knee, searching for my work ID.
相比之下，售價255英鎊的哥特斯(Cote & Ciel)雙觸摸網格揹包(Isar Rucksack Twin Touch Grid)則要實用很多。我試的那款包的皮揹帶，在肩部帶有襯墊，而且與背部接觸的揹包面尤爲柔軟舒適。從人體學角度來說，這是本人試過的最爲舒適的包，而且放手提電腦或iPad的隔層帶有厚厚的襯墊。但它也有兩大缺點：第一是即便晚上天涼揹着這款包，似乎也容易汗流浹背————我覺得都是拜那些舒服襯墊“所賜”；第二：正是由於揹包沒有定形，本人不得不再次單腿跪下來、努力找尋自己的工作證。Like the Gucci bag, Louis Vuitton’s Michael NM rucksack (£2,030/$3,600) drew a crowd. Part of this was because of its bright blue leather (the brand calls this colour Neptune; it also comes in black). But its logos and custom detailing also screamed “designer bag”, and everyone wanted to express an opinion about it – with many saying that the very notion of such an expensive, high-end rucksack was absurd.
與古馳可轉換雙肩包一樣，路易威登的Michael NM 雙肩包（售價2030英鎊/3600美元）也是非常暢銷。部分原因是由於它的寶藍色真皮（路易威登把這種顏色譽爲海王星(Neptune)；此外還推出了它的黑色款）。但其標識與定製細節設計還引得其它“名牌包”側目，都羣起而攻之————大家衆口一詞，以致於如此價格不菲的高端雙肩包成了荒唐之作。It was hard to argue, but nonetheless the Vuitton was surprisingly practical. It had a small zipped compartment on the outside, making the knee-drop search unnecessary: keys, ID and coins slip in and out of it easily. It had a padded compartment for a laptop. And because it is so compact, and the leather so stiff, papers and magazines stayed upright and did not get as crinkled as they did in the more formless bags. The main problem, aside from the snide commentary, is its weight; the leather is relatively heavy.
儘管這一切爭辯難分優劣，但這款路易威登雙肩包特別實用，包外面設計了帶拉鍊的小隔層，因此無需再做單腿跪地之舉：取放鑰匙串、工作證以及硬幣輕而易舉。此包還設計了放手提電腦的帶襯墊隔層。因爲整個包做得很緊湊，而且皮質特別硬實，因此文件與雜誌不會像放到無定形包裏那樣容易皺卷。除卻那些不真的評論之外，此包最大的問題是重量，它的皮質相對來說要重實一些。o it was a relief to come to a bag that drew no comment at all – even at home, where my backpack trials were being monitored closely. This was Ally Capellino’s iGor (£350/$590), which has a low-key black waxed cotton exterior and a pair of small exterior compartments (though I would have preferred to close these with zips instead of leather straps and buckles). It also has padded compartments for laptops, iPads and cameras. It was very soft all over, and hip in a way that did not announce itself.
噢，接下來介紹的這款包沒有任何評論，這真讓我釋然————要知道即使在家裏，自己的揹包也是難逃時時被人說三道四的“厄運”。這就是Ally Capellino的iGor雙肩包（售價350英鎊/590美元），它的外觀使用不張揚的黑色蠟棉料，還外帶兩個小隔層（儘管本人希望這兩個隔層能用拉鍊，而非真皮帶子與搭扣）；它也設計有放手提電腦、iPad和相機的帶襯隔層。整個包非常柔軟，顯露出盡在不言中的時尚感。Even more low-key and practical was Mulberry’s Henry backpack (£450), the only sample to win approving comments from my male colleagues. Made of textured nylon, it is very lightweight and up to the challenges presented by a rainy day with multiple meetings and a Tube strike. Your laptop or iPad will be safe and dry here.
Mulberry的Henry揹包（售價450英鎊）則更顯低調與實用，這是贏得自己男同事讚譽的唯一一款包。它使用織紋式尼龍料，十分輕便，應對雨天多次會議趕場以及地鐵罷工等棘手問題時綽綽有餘。把手提電腦或iPad放在這款揹包裏，既保險，又無淋雨之虞。Still, the Mulberry highlighted the fundamental dilemma of the office-friendly rucksack: while I had told myself that my choice of bag was all about practicality, it made me realise that I actually did want my rucksack to register somewhere on the cool spectrum, and the Mulberry did not. It would not be out of place in a meeting with a government official – yet the goldish-tan colour of my sample reminded me of the interior of my grandfather’s old Buick.
儘管如此，Mulberry仍突顯了白領款雙肩包的根本問題：儘管本人一再強調實用性是自己選包的出發點，但也意識到自己實際青睞的揹包仍應爲時尚款，但這款瑪百莉包顯然並非如此。揹着它與政府官員會面，完全無欠妥之憂————然而這款略帶金黃色的棕色揹包老讓我想起祖父那輛老別克車(Buick)的內飾顏色。I came away from the experience with a renewed appreciation of the rucksack. Most of the new bags are far more comfortable than anything I’d used before – even my old East Village bag – and well suited for carrying devices. More importantly, I felt I could successfully argue the proposition: you don’t have to be a student to carry your work on your back.
得益於自己的親身體驗，我對雙肩包又有了新的感悟。多數新推出的揹包都要比自己背過的雙肩包舒服得多（甚至比我紐約東村買的那款揹包還要舒服），而且裝起東西來極其順手。更爲重要的是，本人感覺自己完全有理有據支持以下說法：把工作行頭全裝進揹包裏，並非一定是學生娃。
