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Weather
I pretty much hate it when people bitch about the weather in New England. Yep, winters are cold, summers are hot and sometimes it rains. There are lots of places with better weather for pretty much however you describe "better". And there are other reasons to choose a place to live than weather. I understand that talking about the weather gives us something to talk about that we all have in common, but it's not a very interesting thing. "Gee, water's been falling on your head all day? Me, too! What are the odds?!"
All winter long and, usually, all through the spring, I listen to people complain that it's cold, it's snowing, it's raining, that they can't wait until summer comes. I try not to crow too loudly, because I do realize that I'm relatively spoiled because I'm not a commuter. I don't have to shovel myself out in the dark--I sit in my cozy home and wait for nice men to come do it for me and there's almost nothing that I have to do that requires me to leave if it's not convenient. I don't deal with hazardous road conditions at rush hour, or sit in traffic behind the inevitable accidents. I don't sit at cold bus stops or trudge to the T only to find it delayed by ice on the tracks. There's no one to be mad at me if I'm late to work for reasons entirely out of my control.
And I do notice the emotional effects on people. Reading LiveJournal in February can get pretty grim.
But then summer arrives. Often, as this year, like a ton of bricks. One day it's a perfectly pleasant high of 62F with occasional showers, and the next day it's 90F and 90% humidity and you can't sit quietly out of doors without sweating. I run from air conditioned house to air conditioned car and I pay a fortune in electrical bills. And sometimes there are things that force me to un-conditioned exertion and I suck it up and do what has to be done--last weekend, with temperatures approaching 100F, I drove an un-conditioned truck to move a load of flats, congratulating myself on being under orders not to do any heavy lifting. And I try to respond to people crowing about how great it is with a mild "I'm glad you're enjoying it."
Not that there aren't other people who complain. After all, it's weather, it's apparently been given to us for the express purpose of having something to moan about when everything else in our lives is going well. Heaven forfend we should be content with our lot.
But the funny thing that I notice on LJ (and elsewhere) is that everyone is cranky. Half of my friends-page is rants on one topic or another, about politics and relationships and bad service experiences and stupid people. Even people that I know are fond of this weather have been cranky at some point over the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, some of them are excellent writers and can make me laugh at their anger, and I wouldn't wish them back to the whining winter doldrums.
But geez, it's summer, people. You've been bitching all year. This is what you've been waiting for and you've got it now. Enjoy!
And that's my contribution to the Annual Summer Rant-a-thon. :)
All winter long and, usually, all through the spring, I listen to people complain that it's cold, it's snowing, it's raining, that they can't wait until summer comes. I try not to crow too loudly, because I do realize that I'm relatively spoiled because I'm not a commuter. I don't have to shovel myself out in the dark--I sit in my cozy home and wait for nice men to come do it for me and there's almost nothing that I have to do that requires me to leave if it's not convenient. I don't deal with hazardous road conditions at rush hour, or sit in traffic behind the inevitable accidents. I don't sit at cold bus stops or trudge to the T only to find it delayed by ice on the tracks. There's no one to be mad at me if I'm late to work for reasons entirely out of my control.
And I do notice the emotional effects on people. Reading LiveJournal in February can get pretty grim.
But then summer arrives. Often, as this year, like a ton of bricks. One day it's a perfectly pleasant high of 62F with occasional showers, and the next day it's 90F and 90% humidity and you can't sit quietly out of doors without sweating. I run from air conditioned house to air conditioned car and I pay a fortune in electrical bills. And sometimes there are things that force me to un-conditioned exertion and I suck it up and do what has to be done--last weekend, with temperatures approaching 100F, I drove an un-conditioned truck to move a load of flats, congratulating myself on being under orders not to do any heavy lifting. And I try to respond to people crowing about how great it is with a mild "I'm glad you're enjoying it."
Not that there aren't other people who complain. After all, it's weather, it's apparently been given to us for the express purpose of having something to moan about when everything else in our lives is going well. Heaven forfend we should be content with our lot.
But the funny thing that I notice on LJ (and elsewhere) is that everyone is cranky. Half of my friends-page is rants on one topic or another, about politics and relationships and bad service experiences and stupid people. Even people that I know are fond of this weather have been cranky at some point over the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, some of them are excellent writers and can make me laugh at their anger, and I wouldn't wish them back to the whining winter doldrums.
But geez, it's summer, people. You've been bitching all year. This is what you've been waiting for and you've got it now. Enjoy!
And that's my contribution to the Annual Summer Rant-a-thon. :)
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LJ just gives them a wider audience to inflict their vitriol upon.
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(Anonymous) 2005-07-01 04:44 pm (UTC)(link)I'd like to vehemently agree with you though about the heat and cold thing.
Personally, I really enjoy the warm weather, and even like to be outside in it. Bring water. Hydrate hydrate hydrate, and you'll be fine.
Get over this goth crap about eschewing the sun - humans were made to live in sunlight. Maybe actually get out and enjoy some fresh air, live a little :)
For that matter, I enjoy bundling up in the winter and walking in a winter wonderland :) I can't lie in that sometimes the ice and horrid sidewalks and whatnot make me think that I'd enjoy living someplace warmer for sheer mobility reasons, but I've always enjoyed New England's sseasons, and never understood the perpetual complaints either.
Glah, that was me :)
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I enjoy fresh air. I do not enjoy over-cooked air.
I'm genuinely glad if you enjoy this season--someone certainly should be. But being told that my preferences are "crap" isn't conducive to my respecting yours.
for the record...
Re: for the record...
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(I recall a conversation/argument with someone years ago in which I said "It's important to me to see where people are inconsistent; it tells me a lot about them" and she said "you're inconsistent about a lot of things!" and I said "yes, exactly" and she got very frustrated. It took me a long time to figure out she'd heard me say that inconsistency is bad. Incidentally, the ability to stick to a topic is also not among my great strengths.)
Though lately, I'd accept weather-bitching over culture-war-bitching and give change.
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Of course, I live in California where even our severe weather isn't really in any way unpleasant. But I didn't mind living in Michigan, either.
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:-p
There's nothing quite like living in the oh-so-bland-and-predictable Bay Area for a while to give you a sincere appreciation for New England weather.
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I love cold weather, moderate weather, snow, ice, rain, thunderstorms... pretty much any kind of weather that's not muggy. I'm even OK with hot weather, as long as it's not humid.
Which makes it obvious that I certainly don't live in DC for its weather!
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If I ever live in Massachusetts again, I solemnly swear never to bitch about the weather again. The heat and humidity here can be absolutely crushing, but people don't complain, they just blot their faces with handkerchiefs and keep going.
take 2, now with better grammar
in the meantime, there's manmade caves with HVAC. we like them.