You can wear a skimpy top and still be warm with a nice rebozo Mexicano
A number of Yucatecos and Yucatecas, and in particular the Yucatecas, love their warmth. Growing up in Merida has left some of them hyper-sensitive (hiper-sensibles) to what they perceive as cold and with the advent of air conditioning this has lead to the occasional complaint about it being ‘too cold’. Women from the pueblos, who work as maids in Merida, acting on traditions handed down from generation to generation will not iron (clothes) with a window open, since this will make them ill. That frigid Yucatan breeze blowing in from the back yard might give them pneumonia, apparently. I always point out, when discussing this interesting notion, that the Swedes seem to be pretty healthy, in spite of their insane practice of heating themselves to the boiling point in a sauna and then frolicking naked in the snow.
I know of at least one (and there are others, I am sure) local woman who, if she is going shopping at Sams or Costco, will take a sweater; ditto for an outing to Cinepolis where she will sit usually at the back or some place where she won’t feel the air conditioning directly. “Donde no me da el aire” is the expression used; where the air doesn’t get me. Getting some fresh asparagus or the latest imported Washington cherries from the icy room in the back of Costco – no matter how fresh they might be in spite of their whopping carbon foot print which is of no concern to anyone – is completely and utterly out of the question. She is aware of her unique-ness and consequently is prepared with a shawl or sweater when she goes out.
What I find irritating is the insistence of some of these ladies – the ones who refuse to take a sweater or shawl “why should I, I am in Merida!” – to complain, in a restaurant, for example or a meeting room at a conference about the air conditioning to the management or their waiter; asking them to turn down the air conditioning because they are cold. What about all the other people in the restaurant or at the conference? Are they cold too? What if they are menopausal or Canadian and are actually hot? Should there be a vote held on the temperature of the room? You have to admire the self-confidence of these individuals who consider their body-temperature issues far more important than those of everyone around them and believe that they are the only people (that matter) in the room.
Imagine this happening elsewhere. You ask the waiter at Joe’s Stone Crab restaurant in Miami Beach to turn down the air conditioning because you are cold and you would be laughed out of the place! “Who the hell are you” the waiter would think to himself before saying “yes, of course” and promptly ignoring you. If he was a Mexican American waiter, which might be a possibility in the United States these days he would also think “ta loca” a la George Lopez. Try visiting Smith and Wollensky’s in New York and asking one of their seasoned waiters from Jersey to “turn up the heat” because you are cold. You would get quite an earful I’m sure.
I had an interesting exchange with someone on Twitter recently – which prompted this rant – in which she was complaining that she should have asked the restaurant manager to turn down the air conditioning “before she asked for the bill, not after, when they were going to turn off the air conditioning anyway” (her tweet) I suggested she take a sweater if she was one of these people who are hiper sensibles to cold air and she replied sarcastically “Oh yes, of course, I should carry around a sweater in Merida if I go out. Good point”
I think so. Turn it down a notch, dear. You’re not that important.
As one of the aforementioned cold bloods, I can tell you that most places don’t have the a/c as chilly as they used to have when I first came here. I’ve always had poor circulation and get cold easy. Also I don’t like cold air blowing down my neck because I have arthritis there. Knowing those things when I go places like the movies or restaurants that I know like to keep everyone cool, I take a light wrap that fits in my enormous purse. That’s one of the reasons I have that purse.
Your tweeter is probably one of those people who angrily honks at pedestrians as she zooms by narrowly missing them, or talks on her cell phone so loud that the person on the other end hears her in stereo, once through the phone and once coming in the window. It seems that sort of lack of awareness of others or unmerited sense of self importance is growing. Didn’t TV Azteca do an expose on that sort of behavior?
regards,
Theresa
I too am one of those that frequently complain of the cold in air conditioned spaces. I frequently ask to be moved if I get a seat under a blower, I hate to be right in the path of the blowing air.
I almost always take a wrap, even if we will be in an outside area.
I love the heat here! I could do with a bit less humidity, but oh give me that heat!
Your piece reminds me of a funny story. I, like my pal Pilar, always take a shawl to the cine. So one evening a few years ago, her hubby invited her to the movies. She accepted and quickly began organizing quick meals for her 2 teenage kids who were invited to stay home. She got everything ready for her outing, then dashed around the kitchen fixing food for her kids. Out the door, and into Gran Plaza where she bumped into just about everyone she knew as she and hubby walked through the mall enroute to the cinema. She takes her seat and goes to wrap her shawl around her shoulders…only to discover it was a dirty dish towel! hahahahahahaha!!!!!! Fortunately Pili was the first one to laugh about this story and doesn’t mind when I re-tell it.
It seems everyone has a take on this story, thanks all for stopping by!
Theresa – God forbid I should ever have to watch TC Azteca!! But I believe you if you say they did a piece on this. Very true and ever more common in today´s Mexico, and probably everywhere else as well. It´s all about ME.
Debi – glad you love the heat. I am getting rather sick of it myself.
Juanita – that IS a funny story! I know a guy in the mall who sold tshirts and occasionally had people come in to buy a tshirt late at night, because they had forgotten their shawl/sweater and were going to the movies!
Working in the restaurant business back at home, and currently living in Merida, I can totally relate to this. I, for one, am grateful for the arctic blast…especially on days like today! However, if I were planning to go out to dinner (where I knew it might be too cold!) or to the cinema, I would definitely dress appropriately. It’s amazing how many people ask to have the AC turned off in restaurants! Waitressing during the summer months in Maine is extraordinarily hot. Most people go out to eat in the summer to escape the heat….but there are always a few who don’t plan ahead and expect us to accommodate them. Oftentimes, we’ll tell these guests “sure, no problem….” while thinking “you knew you were going out to eat, in Maine, in the summer, and that the AC would be on. You should have brought a sweater!” most often we don’t actually turn it off, but we tell the guest we have…
Thanks Marisa – I suppose these folks are everywhere.
People are hotter when they are doing the work and it is just detestable for people to be so inconsiderate. As I am fond of saying, you can always put more clothes on but there is a limit to what I can take off. ;)….I am a dental hygienist and I always kept a little something for my patients to put on if they got cold. I can’t tell you how many sweet nothings came into the office (in Hotlanta) in tank tops and short shorts and then froze to death.
I can only wish that one day my blood will thin enough to be cold in Merida. In two years living here I don’t think I have made a complete month without at least one go with my AC. Granted we live in one of the new little casitas on the outskirts of town and these seem to have been designed to multitask as an abode and a bread maker. But alas I hear tales from others of chilly days and nights … I hope one day I will need to carry a shawl.