Tin Soldier is the name given to a commuter who chooses to drink canned beer on his return journey to the suburbs.
While this is perfectly legal, makes no noise and certainly, within the confines of the train carriage, isn't harming anyone there is still something mildly disturbing about open on-train commuter beer drinking.
University students on their way home from a gig is one thing. But it's something altogether different when it's a businessman heading home on the 7:06 for dinner with his family. Tin Soldiers are usually a pretty uniformed lot: suited, mid-40s, large of body, ruddy of face. And they always drink the same beer...M+S specials. The green tins of lager being by far the most popular.
So what is it that makes this so disturbing? It's not a fear of drunken behavior as there's not enough time to get properly wankered on a commuter train. And it's not the oddly misplaced smell of alcohol, though that is pretty off-putting. In truth, it's more the smell of desperation which is a bit disconcerting. How great is your need for beer that you will publicly consume a semi-warm can of own-label lager rather than wait until you get home? Furthermore, how little do you care that the everyone around you thinks you're a bit of a dick?
Actually, that last bit makes me like him a tiny bit more.
Annoyance Ranking: 5
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