Talking To Differing Degrees

I am sitting at an outdoor café in Paris. A couple of American women are talking with their French friend about the weather. It becomes quickly apparent that the Americans are talking in °F and their French friend is talking in °C, but none of them has realised.

American Friend #1: “So you don’t have air conditioning?”

French Friend: “It’s very rare here. It doesn’t get that hot, rarely above 30°.”

American Friend #1: *Confused.* “But… It’s way more than that right now?”

American Friend #2: “California gets brutal summers! I’d die without my AC! It can go over 100°!”

French Friend: *Gasping in horror.* “But… I would die at that temperature! Aren’t your pools boiling?”

American Friend #2: *Confused.* “No? The pools feel great in the heat!”

French Friend: “You Californians are something else. Does it get cold there?”

American Friend #2: “Winter can get cool, but nothing like here, I would imagine. How cold does it get here?”

French Friend: “Winter hovers around 5-10° in the city? Colder in the countryside.”

American Friend #1: *Alarmed.* “People must freeze to death!”

French Friend: “Oh, no, it’s not that bad. I have my sweater…”

I wanted so much to intervene, but I just listened in, hypnotised…