I am actually fuming. Well, I’m fuming and sweating, which is a disgusting combination.
I just had a full-on “thermostat standoff” with the Office Ladies. I walked over to the AC panel because I felt like I was being slow-cooked in a sous-vide bag, and I saw it was set to 26°C. In a tropical country. In an office with 50 people and 50 computers.
I tried to be reasonable. I went to click it down to a human-compatible 23°C, and you would’ve thought I was trying to turn the office into the Arctic Circle.
Immediately: “Aiyo, don’t lah! So cold already! I’m shivering leh!”
I looked at them. They are sitting there in sleeveless tops and thin skirts. I am in a long-sleeved shirt and dress pants. I told them, “It’s stuffy, I cannot breathe. Let’s just put it at 23 or 24.”
And then came the line. The line that makes every man in a corporate setting want to scream into a void:
“You hot you just take off your shirt lor. If we are cold, we cannot do anything.”
I actually stopped in my tracks. I told them straight: “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND??”
Logic is clearly dead in this department.
- If you are cold: You have a choice! You can bring a cardigan. You can wear a Uniqlo puffer jacket. You can wrap yourself in a literal Snuggie. You have layers!
- If I am hot: What is my “choice” exactly? I am already at the bare minimum of what is socially and legally acceptable. I can wear a jacket if I’m cold, but I cannot strip in the office if I’m hot leh!! What you want? You want me to sit here in a Pagoda singlet? You want me to go topless for the 2:00 PM stakeholders meeting? If I take off any more clothes, HR is going to have a heart attack and I’ll be escorted out by security.
It is 100% easier to fix “being cold” than “being hot.” One requires a piece of fabric; the other requires a portable ice bath and a prayer.
Stop treating the office thermostat like your personal living room. If you want to dress like you’re at the beach, go to the beach. In the office, we keep it at 23°C so the rest of us don’t melt into our ergonomic chairs.
TL;DR: Clothing is additive, not subtractive. Wear a damn jacket and leave the AC alone!