These last few days have been the coldest days of the winter so far. Before New Year’s Eve, that wouldn’t have been saying much, but this week has been actually, objectively cold. I wouldn’t keep harping on that – oh, who am I kidding? Of course I’ll keep harping on that – but I’m bringing it up this time because I keep seeing people out in this frigid weather who are NOT dressed appropriately and who don’t seem to be particularly cold. The other evening, I was driving back from the grocery store, and I noticed a woman standing outside a Dunkin Donuts on her cell phone in a short-sleeved t-shirt. Does she not feel cold the way us mortals do? She wasn’t shivering. She was just standing there. Maybe she was angry with the person on the phone, and her anger was keeping her warm. Then yesterday, I was running (and freezing) at lunchtime, and I saw a woman out walking wearing just a thin cardigan. She didn’t appear to be cold or uncomfortable. Maybe she’s from Canada and sneers at the puny humans who shiver in single-digit temperatures.
Maybe I’m just a wimp who gets cold easily, but I’m not alone! Everyone else stuck outside was either dressed for it (I saw one enviable person wearing a parka with a fur-trimmed hood) or clearly in a hurry to get someplace warm. Maybe they’ve evolved. Maybe they’re aliens.