I Don’t Understand

When I started to write this column, I just didn’t understand. In the middle of this column, I didn’t understand, and by the time I had gotten to the end, I still didn’t understand. But then I took a much needed break, walked away from my computer, and got into a middle school car rider line to pick up my granddaughters. Now I understand: the reasoning is solid, the logic is infallible, and now their world makes perfect sense. At least to them it does.  

Let’s face it. It’s really cold outside, and the last thing you want is to be caught wearing the wrong type of clothing – and yet many are. It’s not like the sky was blue in the morning, but by the time to go home, there’s a gully washer of a storm that caught folks without an umbrella. That’s understandable, and Yours Truly has been caught many times dashing for the car in the pouring rain. But for the last two weeks, it’s been well below freezing with a windchill in the single digits in the morning, so it should come as no surprise you will need at least a coat.

I don’t understand.

I’m truly baffled driving past schools in the morning seeing kids climbing out of cars or stepping off buses not wearing a coat. Sure, they have the right to not wear a coat, and they also have a right to freeze if they so choose, but it’s the why that is so baffling to me. But my inability to understand clothing choices of the young doesn’t stop just at coats, it goes much further, or I should say lower, than that.

The shorts of it all.

I will acknowledge that one might forget a coat, especially if they’re still half-asleep climbing into a car that is parked in a nice warm garage, but shorts? Why would anyone opt to wear shorts in 18° weather? I’ve tried, but sorry I just can’t make logic of that fashion choice. And yet, there’s still those that choose to wear even less.

Put a sock in it.

Wearing no coat during a cold snap? Okay, I can see how you might forget it. You may wear shorts during a cold snap because you may not have any long pants that are clean, and I certainly can agree with not wearing dirty clothes to school. But to not wear socks? The only reason I could come up with is that one of the socks of last clean pair you have got lost in the dryer. Yeah, I know that makes no sense but neither does not wearing any socks when it’s eighteen degrees outside. And that brings us to the last fashion choice of some of our younger folks – shoes.

I definitely don’t understand.

Last week when it was eighteen degrees outside with a windchill of single digits, I was in the car-rider line of our middle school waiting to pick up our two granddaughters and saw a no coat, T-shirt, shorts, no socks, Crocs wearing student. I’m sure the young man had to be freezing because yesterday at the same time it was the same temperature, and I was working at the elementary school car rider line. I wore a heated coat, thermal socks, heated gloves, a wool scarf, and triple lined sock hat and was about frozen when we were finished 30 minutes later. He’d been standing outside for at least 45 minutes.

I still don’t understand.

Shaking my head as I passed the young man, I moved up in position and spotted Sweet Caroline. She waved, and I waved back. As she walked over and climbed into the car, I noticed she was wearing the new coat we had recently bought. 

“Coat warm?” I asked.

“It sure is. Love the fuzzy liner. Have any snacks?”

As I handed the lunch box of snacks and a drink back, the line started to move, and I scanned those students waiting to be picked up. There, standing at the end of the sidewalk, texting on her phone, huge bookbag on her back, was our Little One…wearing no coat. 

As she walked over, and climbed into the front seat, I took a long pausing breath – then asked, “Where’s your new coat?”

“In my book bag.”

Not wanting to be judgmental, I calmly replied, “I’m sure the coat is nice and warm in your bookbag. But it’s eighteen degrees out with a windchill in the single digits. Doesn’t matter if it’s a fashion choice or you’re trying to impress a boy, don’t you think you should be wearing it?”

As I passed her the bag of snacks and a drink, the answer came that changed everything I thought about the way the young dress in this cold weather. As I stated above, her reasoning for not wearing a coat was solid, her logic infallible, and now their world makes perfect sense to me.

“But Papa, I’m not cold.”

Now I understand. They’re just running on much newer, and younger, hardware.