I had two people come into my office today telling me how brutally hot it was outside. I stayed in most of the day. My office is absolutely frigid, and I’m always wearing a sweater (and sometimes a hat) during the summers. It’s really not good for one’s health to be jumping between those two environments.
So I was a bit surprised when I went out mid-afternoon and found a pleasant day. Not too hot, with a nice little breeze. I barely broke a sweat biking home. I’m thinking, “Did we just have a cold front go through?”
I honestly don’t know how we did it, but we did. I lived here between 1983 and 1988 and only had one place (out of five in which I lived off base) that had an air conditioner, and we didn’t dare use it. Couldn’t afford the electric bill. No ceiling fans either. Really, how does one live like that?
My take on it is that it’s all about expectations. A/C is now so ubiquitous that we expect to be cooler. We have it in our cars, in our homes, in our offices, even in our stadiums and gymnasiums. When I graduated high school in 1981, the population of Phoenix, Arizona was just under 1.5 million. Today, it’s 4,777,000. And I tell you, the number one reason isn’t “jobs” or anything economic like that. It’s air conditioning. Phoenix would be unlivable without it. Unless, of course, you don’t expect it to be cool. Like the people who were there when Phoenix was founded in 1868.
When I lived in Texas in the mid-naughts, we had several days of 100+ degree (F) temperatures. I’d challenge myself on those days, coming out of work at 4 or so, to make it home the entire 25 minute drive without using air conditioning in my car. I remember days when the car thermometer didn’t drop below 109. I’d take off my BDU blouse, roll down the windows, and make my getaway. Some days I made it home. Some days, I didn’t. But I swear, if I’d never had A/C, nor ever expected it, I would have made it every time. And then went out and played frisbee or something.
Is this just another “back in my day” story? Walked both ways to school barefoot, uphill both ways, in 10 feet of snow? Nah. Those things didn’t really happen as they’re told. But back in the 80s in Korea, we didn’t have air conditioners (nor phones for that matter) in our homes off base, and we hardly gave it a thought. Tougher? Maybe. But probably more just ignorant.
