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Phillosoph

Don't Slip, Use a Stick

Billy Connolly once said “There is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing”. Yesterday my girlfriend texted me suggesting we meet up during her break from work for a coffee. It has continued to snow here for the past few days so everything is covered with a couple of inches of snow. I fished out a set of Brynje mesh long johns, put on my usual boots and a down-lined coat I brought in China (they eat a lot of ducks in china so it is a great place to buy down items!). I also picked up my telescopic hiking pole. I brought this many years ago in Austria and it has accompanied me on all of my foreign travels since. If you fall in this snow and ice, I thought, you will feel real stupid knowing you had this in your room, had remembered it and didn’t use it.

So I set out in the snow to meet my girl. I encountered my landlord who made a joke about me going hiking. Meeting my girl she was also amused that I was using the hiking pole. She is, however, quite open to new ideas and within about twenty minutes she was agreeing that a pole in such conditions was a pretty smart idea and perhaps she should get one.
Coming into work today one of my colleagues had hurt herself slipping in the snow. Would a hiking pole or walking stick have prevented this? Very probably.
So our tip for today is, no matter what your age, if it is slippery where you are, get a stick!