Freezing my feet off in cold weather is a dangerous thing for me.  I know, if I prance around in some fancy summer heels and light pantyhose in winter, next day I’ll be down with some serious health problems in the private sector that may linger for a long time afterwards.

How do I know this if I never tried it?  Well, that’s what I’ve been told over and over when I was growing up by my Grandma.  As a child, I would come back from a walk outdoors in winter, she would take off my shoes and feel my feet.  If my feet were cold, she would panic.  She passed away last year and I miss her dearly, we were very close.

I called up my grandfather and decided to ask him about this.

Me: Grandpa, women here go with bare legs in winter. 

Grandpa: When I was little, we had neighbours who went practically barefoot.  They had a large family and no money to buy clothing.

Me: Well, the women here simply don’t want to bother to wear pantyhose.  I see them in dresses and bare legs on the subway.

Grandpa: I also recently saw a homeless guy in the subway with pants that had holes in them.  Really, these days people throw clothes in the dumpster.  Can’t he find pants without holes there? 

Me: Look, the women here just don’t want to wear anything on their legs.  They don’t think that it can affect their health.

Grandpa: Oh, common, they have plenty of clothes in North America!  Why would they go bare-legged if there is plenty of clothing?

 ***

No matter how I tried to explain that these women are making a conscious choice to go with bare legs, my grandpa couldn’t grasp this bizarre idea.  To him poverty was the only explanation to bare legs in cold weather.

 ***

Me: Grandpa, I remember Grandma used to tell me to keep my legs warm, especially everything below the knee.  She told me that if the feet get chilled, it will lead to gynaecological problems.

Grandpa: Not only!  It’s bad for both men and women.  Grandma knew everything about that.

Me: How do you know this?  Did you read this somewhere or is this some kind of wisdom passed down from the ancestors? 

Grandpa: It’s common knowledge that areas on your feet correspond to your other bodyparts like liver, kidneys, and so on.  Don’t you have Vietnamese people there in Vancouver?  Ask them, their Eastern Medicine is progressive.

There is a notion in some parts of Europe and some parts of Asia about the concept of feet being connected to other forms in a person’s body.  I guess that what you consider this to be depends on where you reside.

If you are North American, you may think of this as nonsense.  If you are in a place like Hungary, let’s say, you may think of this as common truth that everyone knows.

Thus, if you are from the States or Canada, just forget everything you read above.

Go ahead, start your day, but please wear your pantyhose anyway!