A Lesson Learned

There were a couple of inches of snow on the ground. It was the first day of December and Mark was starting a new job in a new country. There was a lot to learn. One thing was certain, he was not going to be cold.

He donned long johns, a thermal vest and wore his light grey suit. Mark had brought with him a sheepskin jacket, the warmest thing he could find. It was brown. He did not care that it clashed with the suit, he had to be warm.

As Mark was leaving his sisters house she said “You need rubbers.”

“Rubbers?” he questioned, confused.

“They are overshoes made of rubber to protect your shoes from the wet and snow,” she explained. She pulled a pair from the closet. “Here, wear these.”

Mark gingerly felt his way through the snow, off down the road to catch the bus going to the subway station. He was warm in his rubbers, deerstalker cap and garb. The bus was full of folks, like him, dressed in all kinds of coverings, staying warm.

The subway car was full when Mark got on. It was the second stop from the end of the line. Standing room only. People were reading books or newspapers neatly folded into small sections so as not to disturb the person next to them. How did they do that? Some slept in their seats, maybe they had worked a night shift or simply had a late night. He hoped they didn’t miss their stop.

Mark was in awe of the masses being disgorged at Union station. It was as if an anthill had been evacuated. Bodies hurrying in every direction. He found his way into the labyrinth of the city’s underground tunnels linking the downtown core together. Shops, food courts, dry cleaners, dental offices all with unrecognizable names lined the pathways. His eyes had a good workout.

Mark arrived at the office and after introductions and a tour he was getting uncomfortably warm. The team he was attached to took him for lunch, a kind of meet and greet thing. He was hot.

Boiling, and back in the office he went to the washroom as soon as he could and removed the thermal vest. Removing the long johns there was out of the question.

A lesson learned.