Weather happens every god damn day, whether
you want it to or not. Whether you weather the weather or whether you don’t,
it’s always there. And yet we humans talk about the weather like it’s going out
of fashion. Or more accurately, like it’s the height of fashion. We can’t get ENOUGH of weather talk. It’s too
cold, it’s so hot, can’t get over the frost this morning, did you hear we’re in
for a storm? What’s with these clouds, eh?
There are a million, million jokes about
talking about the weather; it’s the cliché, the standard filler, only boring
people talk about weather. For some people it’s highly relevant; farmers,
fishers, tornado hunters – they all need to know, discuss and go on about it.
But what the fuck are the rest of us doing?
Sure, it’s easy small talk, the kind of
stuff you can pull out with coworkers you don’t know that well, or neighbours,
vaguely related family members and members of religious faiths who won’t get
off your doorstep, but I think it’s more than that.
Since moving from my hometown, almost every
single member of mine and Boyfriend’s families have mentioned that they look at
the weather forecast for Dalby on a regular basis. We’re no longer in town, no
longer united by Brisbane weather, so they keep an eye on our weather. There’s
no logic to this, if it’s cold here, they aren’t going to call us up and remind
us to wear a scarf, but they just like to know. I still check the Brisbane
weather all the time; it’s comforting in a weird way.
I think we talk about the weather because
it’s one of the few observable, unambiguous things that unites us. No one can
say whether we all experience life in the same way; do we love the same way,
hate the same way, find the same things funny? How can we be sure that other
people even think the same way, or about the same things as us? We can’t. But
we sure as hell all know what it’s like to get rained on, to feel hot, to
scream and then giggle at our own fear when lightning strikes a little too
close for comfort.
So every morning, you probably look up the
forecast online, or catch it on the news. You probably make a comment about it
to someone you live with. Failing all that, you at least stand on your front
steps and judge whether or not you’re going to need a cardi. And once you’ve
gleaned this information, you probably go to work or uni or whatever, and
mention it to someone there. “I thought it was going to be freezing this
morning, but now I’m boiling, damn it I did not need this cardi!” And in your
mind you might think, “geez what a boring conversationalist I am” – but
remember, you’re just connecting yourself to the rest of humanity. All you’re
doing is saying “LOOK I AM JUST LIKE YOU. WE ARE THE SAME. HOW SHIT IS SWEAT?!”
You’re just participating in the great small talk of life, and there’s nothing
so wrong with that.
What’s with these clouds, eh?
