And...a surprise from the Southerners! Their reaction to cold weather has thusly confounded me. It has been dipping down into the 20s and 30s the past few weeks and I have expected an outright tirade against the cold. But no! I have not heard the depth of complaining that my cohorts in Chicago would surely entertain.
Some people do seem to wear heavier-than-usual coats around here, but even more people seem to be in total denial about the colder weather. Many people still do not wear coats and no one wears hats. It's like it is not in their vocabulary or consciousness! Some people just throw on a flannel and consider themselves good-to-go. One girl told me that she switched from her summer flip-flops to her "winter flip-flops" aka those clog-type shoes. (They qualify as flip-flops because they don't tie, I guess?) I've even noticed that many of the children don't have actual winter coats. Rather, the parents just tuck the child or children into their lapel of their flannel or whatever and run out to the car real quick.
As I was jogging this morning, bundled up in three layers and emitting clouds of cold-produced vapor out of mouth and nose, I passed by a gal in *summer* flip-flops and sweatshirt, looking as nonchalant as could be. I wanted to knock some sense into her head, but then I decided it might be frozen and therefore breakable, and I'd have ended up creating an acephalic beach bum on the sidewalk.
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