I don’t know if it is only me, but the weather these days is getting on my nerves. I know you know what I am talking about, the tropical weather that we are currently experiencing! Ok for those who haven’t got what I am talking about, I will soften it for you in a question; have you noticed the fast alternation between the hot sunshine and the rain, how quickly one changes into another? Well, I have because many a day have I woken up when it is burning hot and decided to dress up in something simple and open to keep me cool in the heat only for the weather to become chilly when I am on my way to town and start raining in a few minutes thus putting me in a situation where I have to deal with a cold skin with no sweater and no umbrella. So I find myself embarking on a moto (bike) to get me to my work place and ending up getting there all crumpled up, shivering and wet. Very embarrassing by the way. Seeing as I am female, the clothes being wet stick to my body bringing out the voluptuousness (I want to believe I am, you might think so yourself when we meet) of my figure and getting me unwanted attention from the guys. They also happen to be the majority. A guy reading this most probably wishes he worked with me but the girls understand what I am talking about. Walking down an aisle with these guys ogling at you is a most uncomfortable experience. It kind of reminds me of those primary school days when I was in primary six and seven when the boys in class were beginning to have their testosterone hormones rise and they started looking at girls in a different way…like they were not the same girls they had sat next to in class for the past five years. The boys would then group up and stand in the main corridors in the school where the older girls would pass and just stare, ogling at and enjoying the girls’ discomfort. So, generally, the rain takes me back through time to those moments that I would like to keep away from my mind. The uncomfortable moments did not stop there. After the inspection from the guys, I have to brace myself for the cold. Our building has no heating system so, with no sweater, I practically freeze up, even fail to do what I am supposed to do and get worry lines wondering if I won’t get pneumonia. Well, at the end of the day, I had learnt my lesson and promised myself to be better prepared next time. But as you know, I am only human and it is only natural for one to forget the bad things that happened to them after a series of good happens. Like two days after that incident, I woke up to a chilly morning and forgetting my past experience rashly decided to put on a thick sweater-like top with a jacket and carried an umbrella. Luckily, it was a small one that could fit into my handbag. So I went to work and this time was dry when I entered the office leaving the guys disappointed which left me with a wide grin. The sun later came out about two hours after I had arrived but seeing as my work was in the building and it is cool, I only had to remove the jacket and still stay cool so I was generally all smiles thinking I had beaten the weather this time. That is, until I had to go out for a report. I reached outside and the sun was burning hot, nature had played tricks on me again and had once again won. My momentary triumph was abated. I had to move around town in that heat with my heavy clothes. I am telling you it was the most uncomfortable time. By the time I returned to the office, I had heat exhaustion and couldn’t get a place to even take a simple shower and on top of that still had more work to do. All I can say is that at the end of that day, I had pretty learned my lesson and vowed to be neutral when it comes to what I wear until this unstable weather subsides. So I now wear clothes that are not too light, not too thick and try to listen to the weather reports in the morning that I used to ignore because this time, I had really learnt my lesson. So my dear, if you don’t want my tragedies to befall you, just do what I do be neutral and don’t ignore that weather update in the morning. I wish you the best of luck! nmranne@yahoo.com
