Setting the Record Straight

Montana winters are not that bad?! Just believe me please!!
Over the past three years I have braved the cold, humid...freeze your nostrils weather of Minnesota and yet every year it seems I have to tell at least one person that Montana, frankly western winters in general, are nothing in comparison to eastern winters.
Freshman year it was Matt Griepentrog and his family. When I arrived at Matt's house for Easter it was slightly more chilly than I had expected for early April and I made a comment about that. Matt's dad's first response was to say something about how it must have been colder in Montana. I immediately set the record straight by telling him that when talking to my parents they said it was in the upper 60s or low 70s. I also had to tell him that the winters in Montana were not nearly as bad as everyone seems to think. First off, there is no humidity out here. Humidity makes it COLDER!! Secondly, just because I live in Montana doesn't mean that I live IN the mountains which is where they seem to get the most snow. I'm sure that I had to set someone straight at least once both Sophomore and Junior year but it has become such a predictable occurance that I honestly cannot say when, where or who I was talking to.
I have already had to make this point known to two people this summer. First, while in Israel someone mentioned the "harsh Montana winters" and I just laughed in their face. This person then told me that the part of Montana that they had been in during the winter was very harsh. Yes, it's true, there are parts of Montana (albeit the extreme eastern portion) which are flatter and therefore more susceptible to blistering winds and cold. However, this doesn't apply to the whole state?! In fact, I've seen winters where one can go outside on Christmas in a t-shirt. This could never happen in Minnesota.
The most recent rebuking took place when Andrea and I were in Philadelphia. Her future brother-in-law mentioned something about the cold winters in Colorado and all three of us (Andrea, her sister and I) laughed at him. We ALL said that the western winters were not nearly as bad as everyone in the east thinks they are. For some reason he still would not believe the testimony of all three of us!
So...to everyone out there who thinks that the winters in the west are for some reason worse than those in the east...believe me when I say THEY AREN'T!!!!!

Food for thought:
There's a giant red sombrero on my wall.