The Hot & Cold Truth

I live in South Florida where right now it is very hot and humid. This gives me a front row seat for an interesting aspect of human behavior. It's the fact that so many of us are rarely satisfied with the temperature.

Here, people go from inside a home chilled by air conditioning and get into a hot car. With A/C, the car is cooled quickly. Then they arrive at work, a place where many people feel cold.

So the first thing they do is grab a cup of hot coffee. For some, this causes them to warm up too much so they turn down the A/C. Then you have those who feel cold but drink iced coffee. They are the ones who have a trusted sweater on their chair which they can wear should they need some extra warmth. It's interesting that some people in Florida are often the most bundled up when they are inside.

In offices, you will often witness epic battles between those who feel hot and cold. They share a belief that proper temperature control is like a Constitutional right. Their biggest problem is over adjusting the thermostat. The overly hot or cold change things in increments of 5+ degrees, which tends to result in immediate protests from the other camp.

Consequently, the thermostat is locked and only one person has control over it. That person soon becomes the most loved or hated person in the building.

After work, a group may go to celebrate at a bar. There, some who are bundled up because it feels frigid inside will enjoy a cold beer and some hot wings.