Ellen Trinklein
Opinions Editor
Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I am, for a brief moment, drastically confused about what I should wear. I wake up in the seasons of ambiguity between summer and fall, or fall and winter, and I frankly don’t know what the weather will be like. Will it be hot? Will it be cold? Is it a shorts day? Can I wear flip flops?
Luckily, these questions only waste milliseconds of my getting-dressed time because I then realize that I go to New Canaan High School, aka the place of arctic temperatures and drafts on steroids. Here, in this place, I know it is and will always be one temperature: cold.
Looks like a sweater and jeans day to me.
Yet there are so many more reasons why I’m grateful that a walk through our school feels like a nice, breezy walk through Siberia (in May).
You know what freezing temperatures do? Save money. With all this new money, our school can become the high-tech go-getter the librarians wish we could be. Praise the technology gods for all they have given us! Uncalibrated Smartboards graciously fill our classrooms and not one, but two Moobella machines kindly satisfy our sugar-addicted students with 96 flavors of even colder ice cream, all for the sake of a 60% profit and the good cause of childhood diabetes.
But wait! There’s more!
Another reason to be grateful: the school is saving the environment, one shivering SAT test at a time. That’s right—all you Green Roof Clubbers can sit back and relax on your eco-friendly ergonomic chairs because the school is taking over. 68 degrees is the name of the game—no more no less.
This, if you think about it, makes a lot of sense. Obviously, when it’s around 80 degrees outside, forcing the shiver-inducing temperature of “68” (more like 58) degrees is a lot better for the environment than the student-preferred 75 degrees. Simple logic, ey?
(That’s right, it’s so cold I think I’m turning Canadian).
On a side note: the custodial staff would much appreciate if teachers stopped trying to play God. According to a very high-up, confidential, janitorial source, the ol’ napkin on the thermostat trick “doesn’t work.” Or so says a janitor who is probably very frustrated with teachers’ attempts to pull a coup d’état on his absolutist custodial power, that is.
Finally, seemingly subzero temperatures have really taught me too appreciate the little things in life—socks and hand-warmers, for starters.
Tomorrow, when I wake up, I know I’ll wear jeans. And layers. Definitely not flip flops. And probably a jacket. My life could not get any cold…I mean…cooler.
