Monday, October 7, 2013

Wearing Pants Instead Of Shorts To Work

I feel like I have done the unthinkable.

From the waist down, I wear longjohns and a windbreaker type of pants. Those work well. I am warm enough to sweat, while walking and running to the bus.

From the waist up, I wear an undershirt under turtle neck, which is under a t-shirt, which is under an ugly sweater if necessary, and under a jacket as necessary. I take the sweater and jacket off, when working on the machinery, and keep them on, when I am just removing products from the machine.

The weather got so cold, and the factory felt worse. The factory shipping doors are left open so that clean air can blow through. This means that even with thick hosiery, I feel like I am in a cold freezer. I do not think that we have any heaters.

I feel a bit guilty, because I have often said that we should wear hosiery in cold weather as well. After all, hosiery is supposed to keep us warm, and for the most part, this is true. I went an entire year wearing hosiery outdoors. It is possible, but we have to bundle up with a coat, when going outside.

In a factory, this is not always possible, because sometimes, we need to put our arms into the machine, and it is not safe to do that with long sleeves.

Unfortunately, the pants have just got holes in the right pocket. I know that I can fix it, but is it worth it? You tell me. The waistband is falling apart. There are other holes in the same pocket. I doubt that spending time sewing it is worth while. That being said, the leg part of the pants are doing well, so if I strengthen the seam of the pocket, I would get a lot of use out of the pants.

In the mean time, I will go back to wearing shorts and hosiery again, unless I come up with a different plan. If my legs get too wet from the wind, rain, and snow, then I could wear the pants under the shorts.

I thought a lot about why it seemed so easy to wear hosiery and shorts during -20 C weather, yet it seemed so difficult to do it during work. I think that it is because of the air blowing through. With flowing air, we have a wind chill, and even with temperatures above 15 C, it can really take away our body heat. Normally, when going outside, we do not stand still. We are often going to the bus stop or wherever. This allows us to move, which generates heat. In the factory, I am moving too, but not enough. I typically stay in only one small area.

I suppose that I could wear fleece hosiery, but I prefer to save them for special occasions.

After going through all of this, I do not feel so obligated to wear hosiery all the time. It is like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders. We will see what happens.

Thank you for reading!

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