It was a little after noon and the sun shone brightly giving those nestled in office cubicles and staring out the window, a false perception of warmth.
Outside, a clearly confused Chindian stood haplessly, shielding himself from the icy cold wind. How is this possible? A bright, COLD sunny day?
My role takes me across different places almost always. As interesting as it may sound, travel is what I abhor most about work. I don’t mind new places, new culture and all the accompanied jazz. It’s the actual travel that wears me down.
But until Elon Musk creates something that allows us to move from one location to another within seconds, this remains my normality. Not entirely ideal but like the great poet Mick Jagger once said, “You can’t always get what you want”. He also said “Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name”. Not the best way to start a conversation, but hey … who cares?
For the past 6 months, I have been travelling weekly to Melbourne. I have seen the weather transition from summer to present day winter. Funnily enough, in Melbourne, the term weather is used pretty lightly. It is merely a guide for the layman. Whilst the city is absolutely gorgeous, the weather can be a little tricky.
Let me lay it down for y’all. This happened in January, the middle of summer, this year.
At around 8am, I left my apartment and walked towards the office, attired in a business suit and brown leather boots. The air was dry and hot, befitting the very image of summer. Sweat trickled down my forehead, resultant of the additional warmth provided by both boots and suit.
I arrived at my desk, placed my bag down and exchanged pleasantries with colleagues, articulating my thoughts about the weather. “Warm day, eh?”, I said to a female colleague, who nodded and swiftly turned to face the screen, completely ignoring my existence. My charm, noticeably, has not waned one bit.
I then had an unexplainable yearning for coffee. It was now a little after noon. I looked out the window. The sun shone in all its glory, beating down mercilessly on people below. I removed my suit, dapper as it was.
“It’ll be bloody hot now. Be smart Logan”, my genius mind told my Ronaldo-esque body. I left the desk and walked towards the exit. Through the glass door I saw men and women decked in suits walking under the blazing sun. Idiots, I thought.
I arrived outside the building. Bone-chilling wind made its way past my shirt, choosing to reside in the spaces between skin and cloth. I shivered from the cold. My eyes squinted from the brightness of the sun, yet my body shook like I was standing stark-naked on an open field in the middle of winter. A colleague came up to me, realising my puzzled look.
“The sun is out, there isn’t a cloud in the sky and we are in the middle of summer, yet I am freezing my a** off! How is this possible?” I inquired, eloquently might I add.
“Melbourne, mate”, he said, and walked back into the building.
