Keep cool

I was dishing about the summer temperatures with an Indian classmate not too long ago when he mentioned that he has always seen cranking up the air conditioning as kind of a status symbol. However, he perceived that in America, freedom from sweaty pits is right up there with life and liberty on the list of unaliable rights. He was surprised to hear that I grew up in a house without air conditioning and that I’m happily whiling away my summer in Chicago without it.

The New York Times has an article called The Unchilled Life about how some Americans are sacrificing their cool for their wallets. It made me roll my eyes a bit, especially when it tossed out phrases like “God-given right” and “maintaining a fairly high quality of life” regarding AC, like being exposed to the natural air is chronic illness. “I’m sorry ma’am, there is no cure for a lack of air conditioning, but we’re going to help you manage the symptoms.”

I guess my perception of air conditioning is like my perception of life in Los Angeles– It’s expensive and it makes you soft and wimpy. The newsroom AC usually sends me scrambling for a sweater and I’m pretty sure going from hot to cold all day makes me sick at least once a summer. For me, it’s worth it to trade the window unit for a sturdy tower fan and some light-weight t-shirt.

Are you with me, or not?

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.