Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Is your wife hot?

On the topic of air conditioning (we weren't but I was with a friend earlier)...I must point out that I live in Florida and although it is cold almost all over the US, it's not cold here.  So broken air conditioning is a problem here even in November.  Strange but true.  Since I lived in NY most of my life, we didn't always have air conditioning.  Our house didn't have central air and our schools had no air conditioning at all.  Well, later they did in the computer labs (after schools got computers).  While writing about this topic I get the distinct feeling that I am about 100 years old.  Anyway, they did have AC at the schools here in Florida so people my age had it made down here while up north we suffered.  First of all, we had to walk to school in the snow, uphill, in both directions...wait, wasn't this about air conditioning?  OK, so in the summer, it was hot and water bottles weren't trendy (or possibly allowed...or invented) back then.  Did children even drink water in the 80's?  I know I had (and still have) a distinct fear of water fountains because you never knew when the kid behind you would bop you on the head and the water would go up your nose.  (Also, EW sharing water fountains!!!!  UGH). Whenever the class would come in from PE or recess, kids would take a piece of looseleaf paper, fold it back and forth and make a fan.  We would all sit there fanning ourselves until inevitably the teacher would say "stop fanning yourselves.  You just make yourself hotter by using the energy to move the fan."  Now, I wasn't an education major but I was a teacher for 7 years and have worked in schools for over 15 years.  This topic was not ever addressed in my education classes in college or grad school.  Now we all have air conditioning so problem solved....but I want to know the truth:  was it really making us hotter because we were expending the energy or was the teacher just finding it annoying to have all that movement and distraction?  As an aside, I am not really wondering the answer to this because as a former teacher and as someone who knows a lot of teachers.......hahahaah, I know the answer!!!!!!!  I didn't believe it then and I still don't.  Not going to use a water fountain either!!!

3 comments:

  1. When I first read the title to this post I thought it was going to be about one of those A/C repair companies that use a similar phrase in those billboards by the interstate highways to advertise. I suppose I am getting side-tracked, but they really get a persons attention with t hem. I really don't think anyone would want to live in Florida without A/C, but I am sure there are some who may actually enjoy the heat, humidity, and sweat. With regards to teachers, I am sure most hate when kids move around in the classroom, but there may be exceptions as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wrote this and read it to Scott and he picked the name because of those signs. I feel like it's a south Florida "private joke."

      Delete
  2. I agree, it is definitely a local private joke!

    ReplyDelete