When I was a kid...

How come when I was younger living without air conditioning never seemed like a big deal? We had it, but its use was inconsistent. My brother and I could keep ourselves entertained and cool for hours by speaking into a box fan. We grilled most of our food to keep the house cool. We shut off the second story of the house because it was too hot. We just dealt with it.

In college we learned where to go to stay cool: Dairy Queen, the one laundromat with a TV and central air, the library, and Jody's. Jody had air conditioning and didn't pay for utilities. Many days she would invite everyone without air conditioning to her place to play Nintendo (Mario and Duck Hunt. Remember Duck Hunt?) and watch movies because it was too damn hot to be without air conditioning. And we drank a lot of Limeades from Sonic and we all owned numerous fans.

In Mississippi everything was cooled to within an inch of it's life. Mississippi heat was angry heat. I didn't like being outside in the south. Yet I still sat outside. Friends and I often went to one of the local bars with a nifty back porch and sat outside in the heat and humidity. I never understood why. But, they did have one of those ginormous fan--that helped.

Then there is today. It's in the upper 80s. I don't have air conditioning. I live on the fourth floor of a building facing due west (I get the afternoon sun). I have done nothing today but sit in front of a fan. I had planned on going out and doing something but then I remembered no one else has air conditioning, either. Sure, I could go for a walk or maybe do some shopping, but when I walked into the closest business establishment it was going to be hotter inside than outside.

I think back to those days spent in front of a box fan and being perfectly fine, and think, "When did I become such a wuss?"

*edit* What's that? There seems to be a breeze coming off of the bay. Niiiiice. It's still hot, and I still want air conditioning, but the last time it was hot there was zero air movement. No breeze, no nothing.