The complicated emotional baggage of admitting it's cold

We've got quite a predicament here in northern Minnesota. It's cold. We're under a wind chill advisory right now. Tonight at midnight we have a wind chill warning, with -50 wind chills and a high tomorrow of -14. That's a high. If we're lucky, -14 is as hot as it'll get. Exposed skin will experience frostbite in less than a minute. Frostbite functions much like a burn. It is a burning cold.

Now, this is cold. It is noticeably colder than it has been recently. But, on the other hand, it's usually this cold in January. Usually, meaning, before the string of warmer winters we've had lately.

So now the predicament. Do we acknowledge that it's cold? Do we say "Brrrrrr" on Twitter or Facebook? A lot of people are doing just that. But there are other people who say "I can't believe all these wimps. This is Minnesota!" Still others straddle the line with hipster references to various memes juxtaposed with acknowledgement of the cold.

That's right. This is Minnesota. Our culture punishes those who believe their hardships are special. You are not special. And I mean you, person reading this. You especially.

But it is cold. I don't want to open the door. I have a blanket on my lap. I'm cold.

Sometimes these things must be said aloud.