Cold Weather

Just in case you haven't seen the news it is cold up here in Minneapolis. Not "I will bring a jacket because the movie theatre can be drafty" kind of cold, but really, really cold. The type of cold that makes your *noise hairs freeze together. There were 3 straight days where people in Minneapolis didn't even see 0 degrees. This morning when I woke up and got in my car the radio of hosts of KDWB welcomed me with the proclamation that it was -22 degrees. Thankfully in a matter of relatively it has since warmed to the current temperature of 2 degrees (with a wind chill of -16 degrees).

*I told this to my best friend back in Mississippi and he was shocked by the fact that it could get so cold that your noise hairs will start freezing together. The fact that I was shocked that he was shocked might be a commentary on how it has been way too long since I have lived in the South.

Anyway, you probably don't read this blog (and welcome to my new reader LC) for news that you can get on the back of the newspaper. The reason I bring this up is not to point out that it is cold in Minneapolis, but to comment on how Minnesotans act about the cold. I have found out that Minnesotans can be segmented into a few different categories in regards to how they handle the cold. There are a few that don't care about the cold and just go along their business. They accept the fact that they live in Minnesota and know that surprise, surprise it gets cold up here. There are even more Minnesotans that complain a little bit about the cold (especially when it gets this cold), but for the most part are reasonable about the weather. They tend to follow the weather on the news and make casual conversation about it with coworkers and friends.

There is another much smaller portion of Minnesotans that interest me more than the other two groups. These Minnesotans are rare because they actually take pride in the fact that it is so cold. If you think you might know one of these people then check for the following characteristics:

• Calling up friends/family in warmer places (ie almost everywhere else) and asking them how they are dealing with the cold. Then these Minnesotans love playing the trump card about how much colder it is here and how the weather "isn't that bad."
• Latching on to any conversation about the weather and immediately finding some way to comment on how the weather was much worse during a time like the "Halloween blizzard of 1991."
• Making fun of any schools that close because of the cold weather.
• Complaining about the idiot drivers who had the bad luck of hitting a patch of ice and got in a car wreck. (Thankfully, I have yet to get in a wreck, but seriously sometimes I feel like it would be easier to drive on Lake Calhoun.)

I think these Minnesotans are both fascinating and annoying. One part of me thinks it is great that they are taking the cold weather in stride, but for the most part I think the whole thing is an act. The "prideful Minnesotans" want you to think that the cold weather doesn't affect them as much as it affects other people. Their actions speak to a passive=aggressiveness that basically says "I'm better than you." My opinion is that when you are outside in -20 degree weather you are cold, uncomfortable and for me extremely scared of frostbite. Let the countdown to Spring begin.

Anyway, I have a date right now with the first episode of Season 3 of Friday Night Lights and M.