CAMERON COLUMN: It can't be that chilly inside

Maybe local businesses are saving a few pennies for when it gets really, really cold.

Like, Arctic level.

Seriously, they must be saving on heat because most employees around here look like they’re freezing.

OK, I understand the girl in the coffee hut. She slides open a little window from time to time to hand you a latte, so a jacket makes sense.

But then I go to get my hair cut, and everyone in the salon is wearing ski jackets and wool caps.

The young women all look like they just came off the bunny slopes.

And no, they’re not working outside. This is a first-class place, where customers getting their hair colored or whatever probably sit for hours.

It didn’t seem the least bit chilly to me, but the employees were suited up for the Iditarod sled race.

THAT WAS just one place, fair enough, and maybe the landlord turned down the heat — or somebody bumped a thermostat and the ladies truly got cold.

Next up, though, was my stop at a spa that has all sorts of services.

I’ve had back surgery in the past year, so their hydro-therapy bed is a dream. It relaxes your muscles and loosens everything in just 15 minutes.

When I walked in, I thought there had been a power outage. The young women who staff the place — once again — were decked out in heavy jackets, and a couple of them wore wool hats.

I mean, hey, the reception area at this place is surrounded by tanning beds. The spa CANNOT be cold.

Can it?

“Oh, I always feel chilled in here,” the girl at the desk said. “It never feels like it warms up.”

Wait a second...

What about the tanning beds on mega-sun and that sauna down the hall?

“Well, maybe inside the booths,” she said. “But the building itself is kind of cold, at least for me.”

The crazy thing is that she mentioned later that winter’s just fine, because she loves to ski.

What on Earth would she wear for THAT?

Four or five horse blankets sewn together? A sleeping bag with holes cut out for ski boots?

NOW I’M beginning to wonder: Is this a Coeur d’Alene thing?

An Idaho thing, or what?

Everyone seems to be freezing indoors, and I feel perfectly comfortable in a light sweatshirt.

A gentleman stocking shelves at Safeway was all bundled up, too. I thought maybe he had to make trips to the freezer in back, but he insisted that, no, it was just pretty nippy inside the entire store.

I don’t get it.

The whole town seems to be shivering like we’re in Kodiak, Alaska, and the entire population is out stacking logs — but these are full-time indoor workers.

I’m telling you, it’s all over the county.

After visiting four or five businesses, and finding everyone in hats over their ears and knee-length parkas, I thought: These folks ought to think about moving to Phoenix. Or Miami.

Ah, but then the air conditioning would get them.

Back to the ski jackets.

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Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. Reach Steve at [email protected].