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Hello, Polar Vortex.
Something’s been bugging me today. What is it about weather that makes us all so competitive?
What do I mean by competitive? Try telling someone who lives at least one state north of you that it’s cold. You will be met with a response along the lines of, “Really? You think it’s cold? Try walking to class when it’s -20. Your sweat will literally freeze. You have no idea just how cold, cold can be.” Mention that the weather is miserably hot and you’ll get, “It’s not really that hot. Right now, in Afghanistan, it’s 120 in the shade.”
I have lived all over the mid-west. I’ve lived through tornadoes, blizzards, and 100% humidity. I lived in North Dakota and walked to class in -20, and, yes, my sweat did freeze (it was super weird when I got inside and experienced the thaw of the sweat. I know, I know, tmi.). I lived in southern Illinois, and remember school getting cancelled for what, once I lived in Nebraska I learned, is considered a dusting of snow. I lived in Kansas, and while everyone else spent the winter bundled up in heavy coats, I was perfectly comfortable in a hoodie (there was only one time that I agreed that it was downright freezing). I live in Nebraska, and every year the weather gets even weirder. Right now it’s -5 outside, this coming Sunday it’s supposed to be 50, and a week from now they’re saying it’ll be 25 and snowing.
Personally, I prefer the cold to the heat. You can always put on more clothes, and throw an extra blanket or two on the bed. When it’s hot, you can only take off so much, and even then it’s still too hot.
I don’t know why weather brings out the competitive side of humans, but it always does. It’s like we’re determined to prove that we’re the toughest because we’re surviving a particular weather condition.
The only thing I know for sure, is that it doesn’t matter if you live in Florida, North Dakota, or anywhere in between, once it rains or snows, everyone forgets how to drive.