What is it with us Brits and the weather? The minute there's the slightest hint of sun, it's all floaty skirts and no socks and people pretending not to shiver at the bus stop in their ballet pumps and T-shirts.
Even employers get over-excited by a bit of blue sky. A bright day can mean only one thing for our bosses (or whoever it is that holds the almighty position of controlling the damn thermostat): time to turn on the air-conditioning.
If we were working in somewhere like Egypt (apparently one of the hottest countries in the world), then yes, air-con would probably be a welcome relief.
But this is Kings Cross, my arms have goose bumps under my long sleeved top, I've resorted to warming my hands around cups of scorching and not even particularly nice tea, and there's a peculiar draft, which I presume comes from the apparently hi-tech ventilation shaft under the desk that is slowly freezing my left leg. And I'm not alone – a quick survey of the consumer pod (albeit of, er, three people) proves it is ridiculously cold in here.
Government guidelines on temperature are predictably sketchy (although you can't really blame them as they probably have better things to do) – the Health and Safety Executive says only that "during working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable" and should "normally" be at least 16C.
But our thermal comfort at work can, apparently, have an adverse affect on our psychological state. Which might explain why I'm ranting right now.
Elizabeth Andrews is suing her employer, Tate Modern, because she says the air-conditioning made it so cold her health deteriorated. And when you inevitably get that summer cold, it will always, always be the air-conditioning's fault.
At the old Guardian offices I kept a hoodie under my desk for days like these, and sometimes even a shawl to wrap myself up against the arctic air-con, only to shed the layers for any venture into entirely normal and pleasant outdoor conditions. It is not just AC in the office though. I was once so frozen at the cinema I had to ask them to turn the air-con down and ended up with big apologies and free tickets to come again. (I showed them my goose-bump-covered arms as proof of my temperature discomfort.)
Not only does lowering the temperature make sitting at a desk all day uncomfortable for some, it's also a huge waste of energy – naturally ventilated buildings use about 50% less energy than air-conditioned ones. So can we please just open the windows instead?
