If you want to see how soft people are getting, have a look at how they respond to cold. I wrote this in London a few days ago. What was the weather like? I'm not going to pretend it was tropical - it was darn chilly. But based on how people dressed, you'd think they were in a blizzard.
Instead, it was a brisk five degrees Celsius (or 40 degrees Fahrenheit).
Let me tell you - I got the strangest looks riding the Underground in a T-shirt.
And I read somewhere the average London home in winter is six degrees warmer now than in the 1970s.
I don't mean to be bagging on London. It's a great city full of great people.
And I'm definitely not saying us Aussies are tougher with anything, let alone the cold.
My point is this:
I travelled from a northern Australian summer to a grey London winter. The temperature shock could have broken me. If anyone had an excuse to rug up in ski gear, it was me.
Instead, I took cold showers.
After one of those, even London feels comfortable.
I'm not saying I was always at ease. I shivered, hugged myself and cursed the icy breezes.
But I was a whole lot comfier than if I'd kept myself warm the whole time.
Discomfort trains you to handle discomfort.
Comfort doesn't.
