Objectively Qualifying The Weather
Stop it! Stop it now! :angry:
To quote The Hobbit:
"Good morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on ?"
Not entirely what I'm getting at, but it's a good starting point at how vague our small talk is.
What really grinds my gears is when people use qualifying adjectives (e.g. good, nice, beautiful, gorgeous, splendid, miserable, terrible, etc.) to objectively describe the weather. What I'm saying is, what the heck is "good" weather and who decides this?!
Does it mean that the sun is shining, there are little or no clouds, there is no precipitation, the air temperature is greater than or equal to room temperature, and there is little or no wind? If so, then why not say that instead of acting as though your personal feelings about the weather are fact.
For instance, if someone truthfully says, "my, isn't it sunny today?", you'd be insane to say, "I disagree, I think it's raining," when you can both plainly see that it is not. However, if someone were to say, "my, isn't it gorgeous out today?" in the same scenario, they do not expect you to disagree when it is clearly warm and sunny out by saying, "I disagree, I find this sort of weather unappealing."
Who decided that bright sunshine, no wind, and warmth were "good" in terms of weather? Sure, I like being warm as much as the next guy, but I find overcast skies to be much more picturesque and nice to look at; I don't mind the wind, as long as it's not too cold outside -- it adds a real sense of power to nature, I find; as long as you don't have to shovel it, snow is fantastic to look at, the way it coats the countryside and how it looks when it's falling; and watching a lightning storm is just indescribable. So why is it that the sort of weather I like is considered not to be good?
Basically, what I'm saying is, think before you speak. Some people might not feel the same about weather that you do. Rather than saying "isn't is splendid weather we're having old bean, wot, wot?" try saying, "I think the sunshine looks beautiful today"; or rather than "this weather is simply ghastly," try, "this weather is not to my liking as the rain is getting me wet and the wind has rendered my umbrella ineffective".
That is all.
Join us next time when SPIRIT gripes about people who say "supper" instead of "dinner".
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