This season – every year – is the winter of our discontent

So we're about a month into the worst season of the year: Winter.

This year, of course, it's been rainy day after rainy day after rainy day and the idea that winter is the worst season isn't merely an opinion. It's based on facts. Or at least it's based on a survey taken several months ago, which passes for "facts" in my world.

Winter is the worst season and it's not particularly close. I may be mixing apples and oranges here, but people have a more favorable opinion of Congress than they do of winter. They think more highly of Kanye West than they do of winter.

Here are the facts: In a survey of more than 2,000 American adults conducted by Morning Consult, only 11% of people called winter their favorite season. Fall was the big winner, at 41%, while spring and summer tied at 24%.

Yes, winter is less than half as popular as the next-least-popular seasons. So if you're feeling tired of the cold and wet weather, take warmth (which you'll need, along with a good umbrella) from this: You're not alone. In the Morning Consult survey, every demographic (by gender, geography, generation) considered winter the worst season. The exception? Gen Z, which ranked winter well ahead of spring.

That's probably because (alert: Generational stereotype warning coming) a YouTube star told those Gen Z kids that winter is cool, then played a dumb video game while a million 16-year-olds watched online, mouths agape while checking their Tik-Tok feeds and eating food their parents bought.

For the rest of us? Winter is the worst. Fall is the best. Spring and summer are about the same.

All demographic areas considered fall the best season, with good reason: The weather is generally mild; baseball, football and basketball are all playing; my birthday occurs; the holidays are on the horizon.

I might disagree with the order of the seasons. In fact, I've kind of disagreed in print. But winter is tiring and deserves to finish last. Winter is like a sports franchise or entertainment network with bad management: There's the chance for an occasional good season, but inevitably, it will shift back into being bad. Because winter is fundamentally flawed by things that are necessary but unlikeable.

Here are a few reasons:

• The weather.
• Lack of sunlight.
• The weather.
• Too much darkness.

You get the point.

As we plow through January and look ahead to two more months of bad weather (since spring officially starts March 21, we sometimes pretend March is nice. It's not. March is part of winter. There are more rainy or cold days than warm, sunny days in March), we can take much-needed warmth in knowing that when we think, "I'm sick of cold weather," or "I know we need the rain, but when is it going to stop," or "how much longer do we have to wait until Brad's birthday," you're not alone.

There's arguments to be made about what season is the best, although the American people have largely spoken and said it's fall. But there's little doubt – except among Gen Z – that we're in the middle of the worst season.

Good news: We're closer to the end of winter than we were yesterday. And tomorrow, we'll be another day closer to the end.

Pretty soon, we'll be singing along with Canadian one-hit wonder Terry Jacks: "We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun."

Because only one season doesn't have sun. We're in it.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.