Sinus Trouble is Good for the Planet
I live without air conditioning. This is not a libtard reaction to climate change. It’s because (a) I have lived more of my life without A/C that with it, so I am not of the mindset that it is necessary, (b) my husband hated A/C because it bothered his sinuses, and (c) during our first summer in NW Arkansas, we felt unduly hot for only a couple of weeks. Hardly the impetus for shelling out big bucks to install a central air unit.
So we built our home with plenty of windows—and, as luck would have it, a basement that stays ten degrees cooler than the upstairs. This wasn’t planned. Just a by-product of building a house on a steep incline. But if I find myself looking for a new home, I would highly regard a house with a basement.
It has gotten hotter, overall, since I moved here. And my husband has passed away, removing his clogged-up sinuses from the calculation of whether or not to install A/C. But I haven’t done it yet.
I woke up one recent August morning to discover I’d slept under two blankets. My thermostat said 74. Felt like fall, to me. And I actually wondered how many people in NW Arkansas were missing it because their windows were closed and their thermostats were artificially keeping the house at the same temperature as always.
Later that morning, my daughter called and asked if I wanted to go to the theater in Springdale. I am not good with spontaneity, but I decided a family outing was probably more important than scrubbing the floor. And off we went.
I wore a long skirt, sleeveless shirt, and a light jacket. And I was mighty cold in the theater. As I shivered my way through the production, I wondered why we, as a society, have come to believe that this should be the norm. And why we persist in upholding this norm in the face of climate change.
I know I am the outlier here. I am the one who is uncomfortable while everybody else is fine. But that doesn’t make me wrong. I think some folks confuse “needs” with “wants,” and with a little practice, they could acclimate to slightly warmer temperatures.
Recently, I heard a report on NPR about renters demanding their landlords be responsible for keeping tenants cool in the summertime, just as they are obligated to provide heat in the winter. The argument is that the buildings in question were not constructed to encourage air flow. In some cases, the windows don’t even open. I understand the tenants’ angst. And if there is no other affordable housing available, they are, indeed, in a quandary. And perhaps minimal standards of cooling should become the landlords’ responsibility. But why have we allowed such buildings to be built—and do we still allow it?
Come to think of it, I went to college in such buildings. In New Orleans. Where I suffered severe allergies. And guess what! My sinuses were plugged up whenever I was in class. Likewise in movie theaters and grocery stores. But I could breathe easily in my little rented bungalow, which stayed uber-cool with the help of an attic fan and open windows.
I guess my husband was onto something. Maybe if more people suffered sinus problems in enclosed spaces artificially cooled with A/C units, humans wouldn’t be so headstrong as to be fighting Mother Nature to the point where she is fighting back.
It’s a battle we’re bound to lose.