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?”
在英国《金融时报》纽约站工作15年后，我调任伦敦总部任分析编辑，上班第一天，就身穿曼哈顿工作时的标准行头来到办公室：黑色西服、不系领带，单肩斜背包。找到自己的办公桌坐定后，坐在转椅中的一位新同事转过身来，指着我的背包（已搁放到地上）说，“这玩意儿里面放了迪斯尼人物图片吗？”
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.
他说的应该是玩笑话，但潜台词一清二楚：帆布背包是学生娃、而非衣冠楚楚成年男士的行头。他或许觉得兹事体大，但本人就是不把自己看作拎公文包的白领。
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.
实际上，本人并非唯一的白领背包客。勿庸置疑，如今的市场已今非昔比————不断迎合那些把所有工作行头装进背包、而腾出双手拿大幅报纸（内容较严肃的报纸）的白领一族，更甭提把另一个肩膀解放出来的好处了。
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.
尽管如此，我仍接受如此观点：本人几年前在纽约东村(East Village)某时髦商场购买的那个背包，对于那些在伦敦金融城(City)上班或是参加某重要面试、希望遭人高看者来说，也许并非最佳行头。因此，我决定从学校大门到办公室的各个场合，现场测试一下何为最适合的背包。
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.
我决定先从最吸引眼球的背包————售价2430英镑的古驰(Gucci)黑色可转换双肩包入手。这款背包42厘米高、50厘米宽，属特大号背包，因此有人把它喻为巨型塑料垃圾袋。事实上，与其说它是背包，倒不如说它更像是配备可拆卸带子的特大号袋子。我在学校门口拦住上学的孩子时，几位家长上来阻止了我，就像美国墨西哥边境的警卫一样仔细检查我的背包，查看内置拉链、皮带子以及弹簧钩。
“You’re going to get mugged wearing that thing,” one said.
其中一位家长这样说道：“您背这名贵包会遭抢劫的。”
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.
很显然，考虑此类问题，学生妈妈比我花的时间更多，她们帮我找出了这款包的缺点：首先，包顶端没有拉链（只是一般的弹簧钩），因此不敢装太贵重的东西行走在人头攒动的大街上；其次，包太深了，所以搁的东西都落到包底去了。曾有好几次，我自己不得单腿跪下来，使劲翻找自己的钥匙。更有甚者，妈妈们说，这款背包酷似女包，而且与她们自己的手包一样，使用起来问题多多。
Still, the leather was nice.
然而，她们说包的皮质挺不错。
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，售价255英镑的哥特斯(Cote & Ciel)双触摸网格背包(Isar Rucksack Twin Touch Grid)则要实用很多。我试的那款包的皮背带，在肩部带有衬垫，而且与背部接触的背包面尤为柔软舒适。从人体学角度来说，这是本人试过的最为舒适的包，而且放手提电脑或iPad的隔层带有厚厚的衬垫。但它也有两大缺点：第一是即便晚上天凉背着这款包，似乎也容易汗流浃背————我觉得都是拜那些舒服衬垫“所赐”；第二：正是由于背包没有定形，本人不得不再次单腿跪下来、努力找寻自己的工作证。
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.
与古驰可转换双肩包一样，路易威登的Michael NM 双肩包（售价2030英镑/3600美元）也是非常畅销。部分原因是由于它的宝蓝色真皮（路易威登把这种颜色誉为海王星(Neptune)；此外还推出了它的黑色款）。但其标识与定制细节设计还引得其它“名牌包”侧目，都群起而攻之————大家众口一词，以致于如此价格不菲的高端双肩包成了荒唐之作。
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.
尽管这一切争辩难分优劣，但这款路易威登双肩包特别实用，包外面设计了带拉链的小隔层，因此无需再做单腿跪地之举：取放钥匙串、工作证以及硬币轻而易举。此包还设计了放手提电脑的带衬垫隔层。因为整个包做得很紧凑，而且皮质特别硬实，因此文件与杂志不会像放到无定形包里那样容易皱卷。除却那些不真的评论之外，此包最大的问题是重量，它的皮质相对来说要重实一些。
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，接下来介绍的这款包没有任何评论，这真让我释然————要知道即使在家里，自己的背包也是难逃时时被人说三道四的“厄运”。这就是Ally Capellino的iGor双肩包（售价350英镑/590美元），它的外观使用不张扬的黑色蜡棉料，还外带两个小隔层（尽管本人希望这两个隔层能用拉链，而非真皮带子与搭扣）；它也设计有放手提电脑、iPad和相机的带衬隔层。整个包非常柔软，显露出尽在不言中的时尚感。
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背包（售价450英镑）则更显低调与实用，这是赢得自己男同事赞誉的唯一一款包。它使用织纹式尼龙料，十分轻便，应对雨天多次会议赶场以及地铁罢工等棘手问题时绰绰有余。把手提电脑或iPad放在这款背包里，既保险，又无淋雨之虞。
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.
尽管如此，Mulberry仍突显了白领款双肩包的根本问题：尽管本人一再强调实用性是自己选包的出发点，但也意识到自己实际青睐的背包仍应为时尚款，但这款玛百莉包显然并非如此。背着它与政府官员会面，完全无欠妥之忧————然而这款略带金黄色的棕色背包老让我想起祖父那辆老别克车(Buick)的内饰颜色。
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.
得益于自己的亲身体验，我对双肩包又有了新的感悟。多数新推出的背包都要比自己背过的双肩包舒服得多（甚至比我纽约东村买的那款背包还要舒服），而且装起东西来极其顺手。更为重要的是，本人感觉自己完全有理有据支持以下说法：把工作行头全装进背包里，并非一定是学生娃。