To the chagrin of my friends, I rarely wear long-johns. It's terribly hot inside most places. Being comfortable for most of the day inside is preferable to a few minutes of cold outside. Yet it seems long-johns are somewhat of a big deal here. Early fall saw long underwear appearing in street markets and supermarket displays. I saw the cuffs of long underwear peeking out from pant legs as early as mid-September. It appears to me that wearing long-johns corresponded more to the calendar than it did the temperature. One friend even admitted me that he was wearing TWO pair of his thermal unmentionables. Not only that, there seems to be a different approach of sporting long underwear. While spending Spring Festival with a family several years ago I walked in the house with the family after they picked me up from the airport. To my complete shock, off came the scarves, hats, gloves, coats, and then.....pants (or trousers for my British readers). There we were at the door, the whole family in their long skivvies, me still in my jeans. I felt a bit left out. I wasn't wearing long underwear and wasn't ready to commit to lounging about in my BVDs. I did, however, spend much of that week only in my long johns.
Seems pretty common. Dropping in to visit various people, I've found long underwear a completely appropriate form of attire for receiving guests. Don't get me wrong, walking around in long underwear in Michigan is totally acceptable. There are just few people for whom I would refrain from throwing on some jeans over top if they came to my house. Here, however, I'm more than happy to lounge about in my thermals when appropriate. Most days, however, I will refrain from donning that inner layer. The trick is to avoid the concerned old ladies that have actually pulled up pant legs for an impromptu long underwear inspection. The lack of which inevitably results in a good scolding about the dangers of ailments from not wearing them. After all, 'wear your long-johns' really means, “I love you!”