She’s finally found her people. It’s time for the anti-summer revolution

A dream has come true. The Secret Society of Summer Haters is officially a club and currently accepting charter members.

The column I wrote earlier this month about my intense loathing of summer has started a movement of summer haters. The number of people who reached out to me confessing that they too have hated summer but have kept it hidden, tamped down, like a secret shame, was mind-blowing.

Here I was thinking that maybe 10, OK, 20 people tops, hated summer, but no I was so wrong. It’s hundreds that I now know of.

When I read the emails and comments I received I was glad I had a box of tissues nearby because I got a little teary eyed.

This one required two Kleenexes: “I am 81 years old and have despised summer for 77 years!”

Can you imagine 77 years of hating summer and having no one to share that with? Well, the Secret Society of Summer Haters is here for you now.

Other emails focused on the joy of finding out that hating summer doesn’t mean you’re weird. It just means your idea of fun isn’t feeling like you’re living on the surface of the sun for three months every year.

“Thanks for giving voice to all of us who are not summer lovers. When I say I’m a winter girl, people look at me like I’m crazy.”

Then there were emails that made me feel like I was being wooed.

“I’ll take 25 over 75 any day.”

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Have I found a below freezing soulmate?

The camaraderie in the emails was intense. I personally have never felt so seen.

“Omg! We also could be twins. I hate sweating and feeling sticky.”

People were even sharing frigid places to escape the heat.

“FYI a nice chill place is the Costco fruit cooler.”

Yes, the Costco fruit cooler is sublime and I’m thinking perhaps a stellar place for the first meeting of the Secret Society of Summer Haters. Do you think Costco would let us set up some chairs?

There has been a downside to all of this love. It’s emboldened me to speak freely about my summer hate and a couple of times it’s not gone well.

When I told a group of women, strangers, at a workout class that I wasn’t summer’s No. 1 fan, it wasn’t a crowd pleaser. They couldn’t understand why anyone would dislike summer.

Frankly they acted like I had just insulted their children. In an attempt to defend myself I mentioned growing up in Texas with limited air conditioning, as in none of the schools even had AC, and how that can influence your feelings about summer.

This made one woman tell me that my “lack of agency to advocate for myself as a child had made me bitter and I need to seek treatment for suppressed trauma.”

I laughed (because what else could I do?) and then asked the woman if she would have had the same reaction if I said I hated cold weather. She said no because that’s normal. Everyone hates winter.

That right there is why the Secret Society of Summer Haters is so important. It’s a place to share without condemnation and judgment. Where you can speak freely about sweater weather and how below zero days are a time for cozy fun. That being cold is cool and being hot with a side of humidity is rather disgusting. As in three showers a day disgusting.

So, fellow summer haters, let’s continue to unite and celebrate the wonders of not sweating, good hair days, and the joy of long sleeves and wool socks. I’ll see you soon in the Costco fruit cooler.

Reach Sherry Kuehl at snarkyinthesuburbs@gmail.com, on Facebook at Snarky in the Suburbs, on Instagram @snarky.in.the.suburbs, and snarkyinthesuburbs.com.