Air Conditioning

If you're over a certain age and did not grow up in opulence, the odds are pretty good that you survived without air conditioning. I did.

From kindergarten to college, none of my schools had central air. This is considered cruel and unusual today. People write editorials about how we can't expect children to learn in a building without air conditioning. Well, there are countless generations of children who managed to get a fine education while sweating.

My parents did not own a car with air conditioning until I left home. I don't recall it stopping us from going anywhere. There was this ingenious gizmo called the window handle and if you rolled down the window, the air blew through and cooled you off.

At some point in my childhood, my parents bought a window air conditioner for our home. It kept the kitchen and living room at a cooler temperature but it never quite made it to the bedrooms. We used fans.

My grandmother (the sane one) lived to almost 80 and she never had air conditioning in her home. When I would spend the night with her, she would allow us to dampen the top sheet. A cool sheet with a fan blowing on you did a better job of keeping the heat at bay than any air conditioner.

We're all spoiled now. Even my parents gave in to central air many, many years ago. (I suspect it was to keep the dogs comfortable.) No one owns a car without air conditioning. The baby took a window unit off to college with him.

I love the times of year when you don't need heat or air conditioning. Just throw open a window and feel the breeze. It's horrible for my allergies but I don't care. The husband has a little fit, closes windows and turns the air conditioning back on. He likes it very cool in our home. I think he's trying to freeze out the oldies. Even though I love the open windows, when I'm periodically hot flashing you can't get it cold enough for me.

Since the oldies have lived with us (almost two years,) I have never seen the Unabomber without a heavy robe, hooded sweatshirt (my fave!,) or a jacket of some sort. Whenever he comments, "It's freezing in here," the husband ignores him. So, he goes back to the bedroom, burrows under the covers and has her crank up the fireplace.

Life is full of trade-offs. My house is cool but our gas bill is over the moon.