You Crazy, White People

When I woke up this morning, at a thick 7 am, I immedietely checked weather.com, as I always do during the winter months. As it has said for the past week or so, the weather was at about 10 degrees fahrenheit with an expected high of about 20. Add in the windchill, and the warmest it would feel all day was about 12 degrees

So, of course, I geared up: on top of my tanktop and long sleeved shirt, I added a sweatshirt, scarf, gloves, and my thick black bubble jacket. On my feet were a giant pair of socks and snug sneakers. Prepared to face the worse, I waddled outside, suddenly relating to Randy, the lovable character from A Christmas Story. Yet, despite all the padding, I was still cold, and hurried to catch the bus to my 8:30 class.

Still delirious from the cold, I rushed on to the bus and coincidentally wound up sitting next to my friend Geanilda. I hadn't recoginzed her at first, since like me she was completely bundled, with her face halfway concealed by her giant scarf and her knit hat pulled down tight to her eyes. Geanilda and I met during our semester in Madrid, and I was instantly drawn to her strong sense of humor and friendly- yet blunt- demeaner. We chatted on the bus ride over- mostly about the good times back in Spain, but a little bit about our upcoming Bio quiz- and before we knew it, we had pulled up to class.

Immedietely after we walked out, however, Geanilda puts her arm out across my chest, stops me, and asks "What's wrong with you white people". Though I assumed her concern was right, whatever it was she was talking about, I was taken aback and extremely confused. " Well..." I began. "Where should I start?"

"No, no no. Look at that girl," she said pointing to the blond girl in Pink capris walking in front of us. " Why do you dress like that in this weather? Its freezing!"

I couldn't help but burst out laughing. She was so right. I myself had noticed it just that morning- a girl in FLIP FLOPS for Christs sake! Fifteen degrees outside and this girlie's got her toes exposed to 20 MPH wind. And in the past weeks too I saw tons of girls at my school walking around in their oh-so-cute tights and ballet flats in single digit weather! Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE the tights. I ROCK the tights. But in appropriate weather ONLY- say 50 or above. This week was NOT a week for tights.

However, unlike Geanilda, I had not taken into account the role one's whiteness played in this phenomenon. Yet, in hindsight, I knew it was only white people- mainly girls- who were refusing to dress weather appropriate. Why?, we wondered. Why would these girls choose to dress as they do? Do they not feel the bitter, sharp winds biting at their skin? Or do they just ignore it in an effort to look cute? Geanilda thinks its an adoptation thing. Unlike her Dominican relatives, other hispanics, and African Americans, white folks typically come from a more "arctic" environment. I, however, refused to accept that explination: Italy, after all, is fairly warm, and Ireland and England, though terribly rainy, do experience summer temperatures. Hell, the entire Jewish population originated in the friggin desert!

So, after much contemplation, I could only accept one explanation for the bizarre, irrational behavior of white people, an explanation I've used for most of my life: White people...well... they're just damn crazy!