Why do we blame so many things on the weather?

I don’t know about where you’re living, but in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, we’ve been having crazy weather lately.  One day it’s warm, another day it’s cold; one day it’s raining, another day it’s snowing; sometimes we even get all these things in one day.  I’d like to think this ever-changing weather pattern is the reason why I’m feeling so sluggish lately.  If the weather would just be consistent, I wouldn’t feel like hibernating for a good portion of the day.  So yes, I’m blaming the weather for my tiredness.

How many times have you heard your grandparents or other older relatives blaming the weather for their aches and pains?  My grandmother liked to credit the weather for the arthritis pain in her hands.  And how often have you heard your co-workers complaining or having a less-than-sunny attitude every time it’s grey and rainy outside?  With today’s wet and gloomy weather in Eastern Washington, I’ve been hearing my co-workers more than once comment that they want to go home, get in bed, have milk and cookies, sip on some soup, sip on some hot tea, etc., etc.

What makes us blame the weather for whatever ails us or goes wrong?  Quite simply, it’s easy to blame the weather.  The weather is a good scapegoat for whatever we can’t explain or is outside our control.  Our knees hurt–it’s the weather.  The car’s acting up–it’s the weather.  The Yankees lost–it’s the weather.  See?  It’s easy.  No lengthy, complicated, scientific explanations needed.  Just two words– “the weather” –says it all.

Now this is the point in the post when I should say that we need to stop blaming the weather for our problems, whatever they may be, and call a duck a duck.  I should say it, but I don’t want to say it because I (and I’m assuming others) want to have an excuse for those things that carry no legitimate excuses.  What I’m wondering, however, is why can’t we find another thing that’s as good to blame as the weather?

Why, indeed.