I notice that when people enter zoom rooms or get on telephone calls they ask each other about the weather. When I lived in Florida, my mom would tell me “make me jealous, and tell me how warm it is” and then would laugh. I don’t understand — why do we care about the weather and why is it funny?

File this under “things David doesn’t understand about how and why we do the things we do” file.

I caught myself the other day asking a co-worker in Nebraska if they received snow. I then asked myself why I cared, I didn’t. I then asked myself, then why did I ask? I didn’t have an answer other than “social lubrication” which I probably need more of than less of.

I don’t mind being asked about the weather. I don’t mind talking about it. So what’s getting me bent out of shape? Dear reader, I’m trying to understand that with you now.

I often think there’s so much more to notice in the world and about people. I often find myself on calls asking about someone’s interior decor, or a fact they’ve told me about themselves, or to point out how well matched they are outfit-wise. These types of observations seem remark-worthy and therefore remarkable. More remarkable than weather, most times.

I think the answer is not if I care about the weather, but if the weather is then worth being remarked on, and if there’s something more worthy to remark about.

Perhaps the disconnect I’m seeing is that there’s so much about humans that’s worth remarking and querying on; and climate is just one small part.

Noticing the whole elephant has its pros and cons.

Last modified on 2026-02-14