Silly Floridians, Where Are Your Coats?

Ahhh, the Sunshine State.

I’m not going to lie. Watching the people of Pensacola experience the winter season is kind of like witnessing an apocalypse. It’s always amusing, seeing the citizens of this town curse the gray, cloudy skies as they head for work in the morning. (It’s even more amusing seeing the overcrowded coffee shops being used as refuges. I’m sure Starbucks is thanking the cold weather for their increased revenue.)

During this time, you can easily tell who is or isn’t from here simply by the way they’re dressed. If they’re wearing a hoodie and jeans in January, they’re probably from the Sunshine State. If they’re decked out in a scarf and winter coat, they’re probably from the North (or are from here and know how to dress sensibly).

I initially had the full-on intention of mocking Floridians to raise a point about how it’s not that cold, but after getting sick this weekend, I’m going to have to hold back on a lot of what I was going to say for this post.

The matter-of-fact is: IT’S PRETTY COLD.

Myself, being a veteran to cold extremes, can tolerate chilly weather. My parents live in England in a town called Peterborough, located two hours North of London. We spent New Year’s on a bridge overlooking Big Ben and the London Eye as we risked losing our fingers to frostbite.

Last week on Wednesday, I woke up for my morning class at 8:30 a.m. I booted up my computer and checked the weather. The expected high was 44 degrees Fahrenheit. The low was 27.

The cold weather in Peterborough freezes spider webs,
leaving rubbery-like strings. Neat, huh?

I paused and stared at that 27, because I remember sitting on my couch back home in England during break, seeing that number as the same recorded low for the day—three days before Christmas.

I could not believe that it was just as cold here as it was in England. When I stepped outside, the wind slapped me in the face and it felt like I was back home, walking the streets of Peterborough, enduring the frigid wind.

My initial thoughts were, “This isn’t that bad, you’ve experienced this same kind of weather back home.”

Approximately 24 hours later, I started to get sick. Underestimating this weather was a mistake.

 I refused to turn on the heat in my apartment because I was convinced it wasn’t cold. I’m also cheap and make every effort to reduce my electricity bill, so I can push some of the blame of my sickness towards Gulf Power.  

Now it’s Monday night and I’m just getting over my sore throat. I can feel the weather getting slightly warmer but I’m going to be extremely cautious from here on out.

Lesson of the day: Don’t mock the cold. Things will only get worse if you do.

(Tiny side note: I hope we get a small snow flurry so University classes will get cancelled like last year. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we had legitimate snow here. People would freak out big-time.)