From US to Iraq: Clothing and Environment. A satiricle look.

As the day started, my the normal routine of preparing myself for work seemed mundane. My coffee tasted different, as if it were made from some foreign water source. My room seemed smaller, as though it had reduced in size during the night while I lay attempting a form of sleep on a bed made of lumps and folds. Things seemed different, so I made a change to my normality by embracing the abnormality.

The previous attire held near and dear to my heart became a sudden distant past as I succumbed to the donning of a skin-tight under garment layer from toe to neck. A second layer of fabric then covered the first, yet was different from the first in several ways. The second layer covered all remaining exposed skin save for hands, neck, and face. Formulated from only the finest of non-breathable, flame-retardant, multi-use camouflaged pattern its sole purpose appeared only act as impenetrable defense against all things external.

My feet required attention. Their single fabric layer could only provide limited barriers against the onslaught of the day’s activities and requirements. They needed more. Engulfing each foot within a vessel constructed of extremely durable, highly think, and unforgiving leather attached to a brick-like sole, my feet were securely protected from the elements, though not without the highly agitating and constant rubbing over the leather against lightly covered skin through thinly made socks.

A cap covered the one area of the human body that releases the most body heat, and with the complete ensemble, I made my way into the world. Upon opening the exterior door, the initial attack came in the form of a 13.7 kazillion-candle-watt power light bulb.  The magnitude of the source scorched my retina and ice picks began to stab at the receptors deep in my eye sockets. Only another thinly constructed shield protected them, shaded pieces of plastic held together by cheap frames wrapping themselves around my head.

Suddenly I became engulfed in a heat source unregisterable on the British Thermal Unit scale, a veritable magnifying glass shining on me, similar to those I used on ants when I was a child. The protective layer I had donned now became an oven. My body began to slowly cook within its encapsulated cocoon.

The initial barrage was only half the attack. I was wittingly flanked by a penetrating wind that swallowed me whole. The oven experience turned from sauna-style heat to convection as wave after wave of recirculatory air patterns relentlessly dwelt blow after blow. Walking in the open environment provided a mental image of moving through a gauntlet of a thousand heat guns focused on my embittered torture. Breathing became a struggle as particles of stirred up dust and debris infiltrated my nose and lungs.

The mundane routine I had once known became a faded distant past with the new environmental factors now affecting me. My world has changed significantly and remembering how things once were only serves lowly feelings. So, to an end I stay focused and simply enjoy the moment and prepare myself for the unavoidable rainy season.