Goodbye, Weak

It is my experience that people either love or hate Winnipeg. There is very little middle ground. I meet very few people who are indifferent about Winnipeg.

Me, I love Winnipeg. There isn't anywhere in Canada I would rather live. Members of the hating group think I'm crazy, and people who love Winnipeg simply nod knowingly.

I have a theory about why some people hate Winnipeg. It's a little controversial, but here it is: You have to be hardy to live in Winnipeg. The haters simply can't handle it. That's all there is to my theory.

The weather is every possible extreme short of earthquakes and fiery hail. It snows like crazy, is cold enough to kill penguins, is blazing hot, has floods/tornadoes/amazing thunderstorms... If you're not hardy, you don't make it.

But there are those of us who take the weather as a personal challenge from God. We are the hardy ones who simply put on a hat and some gloves when the penguins start carking it. We are the ones who move to the shade to play football when the tar in the road is melty. We are the ones who can smell a storm coming... and it smells like victory.

For us, Winnipeg is a proving ground.

For the rest, Winnipeg is just too much to handle.

Stop complaining about the weather, you sissies!