Obsession with vests, socks, any kind of cool air, air conditioning

[waterbottless]

I am away in Italy at the moment and this is all people talk about in relation to my kids and themselves.

It's like 35 degrees every day and still 30 at night and yet, apparently they need to wear a vest.

I am staying with some of my H's relatives, but there have also been friends visiting who are just horrified at the air conditioning being on 22 degrees. Apparently it's like being at the North Pole. They put their aircon on 27 and on low.

We went to a shopping centres and I was sweating as the air con was on so little.

I know in places like the states and Dubai, maybe occasionally it can get a bit chilly inside, but I would prefer that.

Apparently we are all going to get really really sick from the cold air. Are there more sick people in places that use air con more ? I doubt it.

My kids should also wear socks in the house as there are tiles on the floor and they'll get sick from walking barefoot.

If we are ever outside at night ( at 30 degrees ) and a tiny bit of wind blows, they all start freaking out and getting a cardigan for their shoulders, so they don't get sick.

I find it totally OTT and I am genuinely wondering if Italians get sick less because of these habits ? They seem obsessed with getting a chill.

The air con on the trains (uk) Last week was baltic, it was a rare hot (24°) day and I had to put my jacket on, in the train because I was so cold!

Yes of course germs cause sickness not cold air, nobody is disputing that ... BUT aircon recycles the germs everyone in the building has just breathed out, and so many aircon systems aren't maintained properly and harbour mould spores.

The element of truth in the link between cold and succumbing to viruses, bacteria and other pathogens is that the human immune system functions less efficiently when cold and perceives a sudden drop in temperature (say the difference between 35°c outside and 22°c inside) as cold enough to preserve essential functions at the expense of the immune system functioning optimally. The elderly and those with immature immune systems (small children) are the ones impacted.

Cold doesn't "make you ill" but aircon can.

It can, but generally it doesn’t. Otherwise those of us in hot countries would be more sick, and we’re not.

Recently I was shocked in rural Africa, temps 22-28 C, to see people in quilted jackets & wooly hats (yes really). But that was their winter & they are used to 30-38 for summer. This is a place where in living memory people that punished for wearing "native" dress and native dress was actually very skimpy, but now the belief is that a proper adult must wear entirely too many clothes. Seeing a grown native-raised man in shorts was almost unheard of. The kids were rather more minimally dressed, thank goodness, but still had cardigans for school, etc. Not AC schools, mind.

Culture is a screwed up thing !!

I had an Italian neighbour was horrified at the advice to open the windows in this flat everyday (even in winter) to deal with condensation. He was convinced we were all trying to make him sick.

Oh yes. Sitting on cold surfaces and going out with wet hair also kills you. Forgot about those two.

This sounds about right 😂

In SA it was 23 yesterday and I had on a vest, light jumper and a down puffer. Granted I took the puffer of when in the car. When the sun goes down in winter the temp does drop dramatically in Jhb.

Italians are just like this! It's really funny and hard to adjust. But they really do believe that the cold is something to be feared and will make you sick... even he doctors believe this. They also have different ideas to what is cold. 25 degrees outside is still big coat and scarf weather and they reeeeealy wrap kids up warm to the point I wonder how they don't overheat and get dehydrated. You can just do as you please tho, you don't have to go along with it!

FIL (very much not Italian!) was convinced that setting foot outside, anywhere, with even a hint of damp hair would lead to instantaneous pneumonia.

On holiday in Greece years ago (30 degrees plus), he’d shower in the morning, then sit in his room for ages meticulously towel drying his hair before he’d come to the beach. Never wet a hair on his head whilst swimming either. Bonkers. He was otherwise a rational, intelligent man, but on this he would not be swayed as it had been drummed into him as a child.

I think it’s understandable that living in a different climate gives you a different hot/cold perception and tolerance though. I know several people who’ve settled here from very hot countries, and they’ve gradually gone from finding the UK weather unbearably cold and wet, to complaining when they visit their home countries that it’s just way too hot!

Annoying to be constantly hassled about your kids though. Maybe just have one stock phrase - “don’t worry, they’re fine” plus perfunctory smile - and immediately change the subject. Every time.

A friend took me to someone she knows house on Monday. We were sat in their conservatory and they had the windows shut and the heating on! I thought I was going to pass out.

I set air-con to 18 in any hotel room it's available. In the car we have it at "Lo" which is the only setting below 16.

Yes, we regularly go to southern Spain in the winter months . 17/18 degrees and we are sitting outside sunning ourselves in T shirts whilst the locals are walking past in their puffer jackets .

It's the fear of "cervicale" you're dealing with, it's a national obsession in Italy. It harks back to pre-antibiotic era, when nobody knew how infectious diseases were transmitted and, as colds (see? even we still have the linguistic misconception) go about more in winter, everybody got convinced they are due to the cold air. Now, as most of caring duties are carried out by nonnas, they are the main propagator of the misconception and God help anyone getting in the way of nonnas, they are a force of nature that probably had their own deity in roman times!

We are just back from Greece. We set the bedroom temperature at 26-28 and didn’t bother using the air con in the car.

My X is from a hot country and they are all like this. I would expire if I wore the layers they wear. I worried about their babies at times they were so wrapped up in layers whereas they thought I was deliberately trying to murder mine with cold. I hate having hot feet and go barefoot as often as possible and I get chased around the house with slippers. It's annoying but comes from a good place. Just ignore.

With an enforced break during covid, we spend part of every year in WA and I am always surprised at how little our friends, neighbours and relatives, actually use their aircon. Unless it’s very warm we only ever turn it on at night.

We have rented several places down south with none fitted.

Yep. I lived in similar country. Going barefoot makes you infertile. Going out with wet hair will kill you dead on the spot. And if you or kid ever do cough, it’s um-hum said very meaningfully with nods. The funny thing was, they were always having ‘little colds’ and having to nurse themselves while the kids and I never did. Drove me nuts over a long period.

Oh yeah the dreaded cervicale. And yeah the nonnas...

They're the ones that go on about all this stuff. My mum is Italian so I know very well. I just didn't expect younger relatives to also completely buy into it all ! That's what surprises me. And yes, even doctors.

However I do begrudgingly get the point that it might not be ideal to go from 35 degrees, straight into a room at 22-25 degrees as it's such a drop. However, I take my kids to Italy every year and we go to hotels, rent houses etc and don't stay with relatives and we haven't got sick from the way we use air conditioning Or that we don't use vests under clothes during the day. I do use vests at night time for my kids.

I ended up making up my own stupid superstitions to annoy them with. Something like, never wear a scarf in summer or your neck won’t be able to breathe

Also, drinking water straight from the fridge in summer or using a fan.

My nonna used to tell me about two relatives who died, one from sitting near a fan for too long and the other one died from drinking cold water from the fridge. I used to be terrified.

I genuinely probably wrap my kids up a bit more than some people, but not to the extent some relatives think is necessary. I'm just so tired of hearing about it now. Can't wait to get back home and bask in 20 degree heat.

Great idea

I can't imagine setting air conditioning as low as 22 degrees - that's lower than I have my central heating set in winter!

I wouldn't worry about getting pneumonia - it's easily treated by tying cabbage leaves to feet overnight, double pair of socks on top.

Also, eating the crusty ends of the bread, gives the gift of pointy tits. I'd focus my life on the last one 😁

Tell them that tea drinking insulates you and your offspring against the cold and / or remind them (this bit sadly not made up) that the Mediterranean heat kills Brits on a regular basis 😢

It’s just a cultural thing. Different countries have really different ideas about this kind of thing. My friend lived in Ukraine for a few years when her kids were little and random grandmas used to zip her kids coats up and tell her to put a hat on them all the time, when they were running around in a playground in early September and there was barely a hint of a chill in the air.

And also, if someone is used to temps in the 30s all the time, 22 is going to feel chilly to them. I’ve been to Cyprus in November and watched the local people wearing jumpers and scarves when it was 24C.