"It's Kool Inside"

We knew it was going to happen.  They were living on borrowed time.  And at the age of 28, they really surpassed their life expectancy.   But are we ever really prepared to say "goodbye"?   Luckily, their time didn't come in the heat of the summer or during the coldest of days.  Yep, our heating and air conditioning system bit the dust.  Air Conditioning put up a fight...sputtering and clunking to the end.  Her brother, Heating, wasn't quite ready to go, but since they've been together since 1986, we figured they'd want to go together.   Instead of taking the bandaid approach, pouring more money into their sad conditions, we're going to pull the plug on both of them. But what choice do we have?

This decision got me to thinking "When did we become so addicted to such comforts as air conditioning?" Heating has always been a given.  Since the age of cave men and the creation of fire, we knew that keeping warm was needed if we were going to survive.  But air conditioning?  It's a luxury that we all have to have now.  And I have the checkbook balance to prove it!

Kids today -and their parents -just assume that air conditioning is a right of life, because it seems we've always had it....but that wasn't always the case.  When we were kids (Oh, here she goes again!) sleeping in a hot upstairs bedroom, with the night breeze coming thru an open window, was what we had.  A box fan in the window was a welcome addition to the household and if it was blazing outside, the basement provided a cool spot.  Perhaps, not having air conditioning was the reason for our crowded public swimming pools and air conditioning's growing popularity was part of the reason for their demise.  Okay, maybe that's a stretch but think about it...Sitting in a cool home is less strenuous. 

I remember as a kid, the Mom and Pop stores we frequented, had window air conditioners... they weren't pretty, stuck in the window, but they kept the customers cool when we were there.   A neighborhood drugstore we went to was my first recollection of an all-out air conditioning system.  They even had a sign on the door that said "Come In.  It's Kool Inside."  Clever marketing, I'd say, as they advertised a popular brand of cigarettes, as well as cool, comfortable shopping.  (Why in the world would I remember that?)

Thinking back to simpler times is always fun but the fact of the matter is we're spoiled so a new system is on its way.  It won't be long 'til I'm scurrying from my car (okay, you can stop laughing at THAT image!) to reach my air conditioned nirvana that is "home".  Maybe, one of these days, a flea market find from simpler times,  is in my future... one of those signs that says "Come In.  It's Kool Inside"!?!  Now, that would be Kool?