Some Thoughts on Warmth and Fashion

When i lived at my parent's house I used to catch the bus at the end of the driveway every day. In elementary school i caught it on my own and often amused myself in the winter by making paths in the snow and running around them as fast as i could to keep warm. But by the time i got to highschool i had to wait with my sister and my neighbours so we would just stand still and maybe even talk until the bus came. Often the bus would be 10-15 minutes late and by that time our inactivity caused our hair to be frozen and our teeth to chatter violently. Fashion ruled in high school. Girls didn't wear toques because they didn't want to mess up their hair and your jacket needed to look good and it didn't really matter if it was warm. There was no recess, no reason to go outside, only catching the bus or running to a car. So somehow we managed. (Personally, i failed miserably when it came to fashion, often resorting to going outside in -20 to catch the bus with wet hair only to discover that my hair became a giant ball of fuzz upon reentry into a heated building. However, i didn't really care what i looked like as some of you may be able remember.)
And now university. An entirely different phenomenon. No longer are the hair styles of the fashion elite hoodless and vulnerable to the cold. Now, such attempts to remain good looking at the loss of your ear lobe are deemed 'stupid' and 'pure idiocy'. Suddenly, we've reverted to our academic infancy. We trudge along in our giant snow jackets, hoods up, scarfs covering our faces with mitts as disproportionate as lobster claws. Suddenly warm is cool again and looking cool looks more stupid than having your scarf wrapped around your head three times. Function has won out over fashion. So sure, i may look like an oversized kindgarten as i walk past the highschool on my way to class. But, while i may not be cool, i'd rather be warm any day.
Robyn