Cope with the cold

By: STEVE MALONEY – COLUMNIST, SENIOR

How about this weather?

Just when most of us Midwesterners were nearly recovered from the so-called Polar Vortex earlier this month, Dayton has been annihilated with yet another stretch of brutal cold. It can be tough even getting out of bed every day, but I’m here to tell you it’ll be okay.

The first idea I’d like to engrain into your head is that preparation and overestimating go a long way. There are certainly a lot of tough people on campus, and you’ll find the token guy wearing shorts in subzero temperatures who claims, “yeah, my legs just don’t get cold.” For the rest of us non-superheroes with normal temperature thresholds, having gloves, a winter hat, and a scarf on hand makes the freezing, windy environment much more manageable for short spurts of time. Multiple layers can’t hurt either.

Next, did you know that complaining about the cold helps you warm up and actually helps contribute to a gradual rise in temperature? Of course not, because that’s ridiculous.

Coming into class or a meeting and making the overly expressive announcement that you “hate this cold” or you “almost didn’t come today” or my all-time favorite that you’re “so ready to transfer to the south” is one of the most irritating things you can do. Everyone else in the room got there through the cold, so please refrain from making it look like you’re struggling more than the rest of the people there. A simple, “Boy, it’s cold out, huh?” works just fine if you need to say anything.

Finally, expect the worst, but pray for the best. Celebrate when the thermometer breaks 20°F, and prepare for the sub-zero temperatures. And don’t verbally jinx that we might not have school the next day. You’ll probably just wake up without an e-mail from UD and start your day off in a rotten mood.

Just be smart, careful and realize preparation is crucial. Appreciate that our campus is compact enough that you’re hopefully walking for no more than ten minutes at a time. It could always be worse. And when the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow in a little under a week, spring will come early and we’ll be breaking out the lax pennies and jerseys in no time.

Just be patient. We’ll get through this together.