The Quad Walk: That Time I Almost Died

I haven’t had a good cry in a long time, probably five or so years. I’m not talking about just that small little tear action you get when you watch a kind of sad rom com or are stuck writing a paper in Lamont at 3 a.m.—that happens almost every week, at a minimum. I’m talking about real tears, like Niagara Falls-style.

However, this weekend I finally had a good cry. The reason? El Niño.

A few weeks ago I had the splendid idea to help out at this year’s Harvard Debate Tournament as a judge. The tournament took place this weekend and it sprawled across the entire Harvard campus. As an Adams House denizen, I’m never happy to learn that I have to walk all the way to the Quad, especially not for an extracurricular. I was doubly sad to learn that these rounds were slated to start at 7:30 a.m.

And oh, right, the windchill this weekend was minus 36 degrees. It was cold.

For reasons that are still unknown to me at the moment, I thought that it would be preferable to walk to the Quad (in the cold) than to wait for the shuttle (also in the cold.) This was a terrible idea. It was so cold I thought I had died, then somehow been resurrected as the White Witch Queen of Narnia, only to die again of hypothermia and sadness.

There's a saying that "real men aren’t afraid to cry." If that's true, then as of yesterday, I am now the manliest of men. I bawled on my walk to the Quad. My tears actually froze on my face. I wish I was kidding. It hurt.

So if you’re looking to learn how to combat this winter weather, all I can recommend is that you (1) don’t forget to bring a warm hat and (2) bring tissues. Lots of tissues.