Chicago Tough

I think everyone out here on the east coast is weak when it comes to the cold. WEAK!

They'll say "it's freezing today!" when it's only 20 degrees. And the even WEAKER people are all these students at the Ed school from other places: Arizona, California, Singapore, etc. They're freezing even when they're indoors.

I'm not. I'm never cold. This is mild. This is one of the easiest winters of my life.

Because I'm from Chicago.

Now I'm not tough in any way. I don't fight people, I don't fix cars, I don't own weapons, I can't even handle the "medium" sauce at Taco Bell. But Chicago has made me winter tough.

One day, when I was sitting I class, I looked up and glanced around the room and saw people in sweaters, scarves, sweatshirts, and even some in their coats. I had on only a t-shirt, and I was feeling just fine.

The other day I was outside wearing a t-shirt and a fleece, and a bunch of bundled up people walked over and said "aren't you cold? How can your dress like that? Don't you have a winter coat?"

I remember seeing a photo this fall of Obama walking outside the White House without a coat, and everyone was surprised that he didn't need more clothing. And the captions said something like "he has a Chicago flinty toughness."

I like that. I want to be flinty tough. I don't know what "flinty" is, but I'm going to put it on my resume.