Parents used to try to diminish their children’s complaints about dealing with inclement weather by claiming that they had it even worse when they were young. Climate change renders that time-honored tactic impractical.
Americans often downplay the long-term effects of traumatic experiences, expecting victims to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and move on after a disaster. But as my mother’s experience as an elderly French-American shows, often the negative effects never go completely away.