I was 38 years old before I lived in a home with air conditioning. Growing up in Orlando, while our parents had a window unit in their bedroom, the rest of the house depended on a massive in-ceiling fan that drew the evening air (relatively cool) up and through the house and discharged into the attic space forcing out the heated air that had collected during the way. It mostly worked. The US Naval Academy was not air conditioned. (That first summer in Annapolis exposed me to levels of heat+humidity previous never experience by this Florida boy). The submarine was air conditioned. My “when in port residence” in Aiea Hawaii didn’t have, didn’t need it – thank you tropical breezes. My home in Virginia was not air conditioned until it was added… when I was 38.

I have often wondered if air conditioning was the beginning of the downfall of western civilization. Growing up in Orlando, folks sat on the front porch in the cool of the late afternoon and early evening, …. watching all … reporting all misbehavior to the appropriate parents. It was a civilizing element to an otherwise steamy summer world. It also meant we knew our neighbors – which in the case of my block growing up was fortunate all things considered.

No one in the neighborhood was Catholic, most were older than our family, the only other kids were already in high school when I was in third grade. We played with the kids on the next street that did not seem to mind that we were Catholic. Nonetheless we kept the two Mrs. Smith’s straight in our minds, waved to most, and wondered if it was true that near the end of the block that the dad, a lawyer, was indeed the lawyer for the head of the Dixie Mob. Turns out he was. He seemed like a nice guy.

But I digress.

The advent of air conditioning eliminated the need for front porches that served any real purpose apart from decoration. The Orlando days stayed steamy, both Mrs. Smiths passed away, the lawyer went to jail, and in time people just did not know anyone any more. The “neighborhood” became more readily defined by after-school activities with kids that might live miles away. Don’t get me started on travel youth sports. But perhaps I have a provincial view of such things.

Freya Sanders, a writer who lives in London offers an international perspective on air conditioning – or in her case, lack thereof. She wrote: “When the heat wave struck earlier this month, we suffered. The London Underground became a furnace. Every British newspaper ran an article about “how to keep cool.” Shut the curtains! Put cold towels on your bare legs! I did all this and more, in the apartment where I both sleep and work, which is but 15 years old and has no air con.” Turns out that more Europeans die heat-related deaths than Americans suffer fatal gunshot wounds. The World Health Organization reports that more than 175,000 people die from heat-related causes each year while US gun-related deaths were 46,728.

Another writer, Tyler Cowen, reports: “European governments do a great deal to discourage air-conditioning, whether central AC or window units. You might need a hard-to-get permit to install an AC unit, and in Geneva you have to show a medical need for it. Or in many regions of Europe, the air conditioner might violate heritage preservation laws, or be illegal altogether. In Portofino, Italy, neighbors have been known to turn each other in for having illegal air-conditioning units. The fines can range up to €43,000, though most cases are settled out of court by a removal of the unit. In Britain, even if you can get through the regulations, the cost of energy can be double that in America, so good luck with your bills.” There is similar scarcity of clothes dryers… just saying.

So sure, in my European travels, there was always the euphoria of cleaner streets, lower crime, and interesting new foods to try – all on top of so many interesting places to see just not in summer. There is a reason the Pope and rest of Rome head out of town for the summer. I find it a little hard to reconcile the better standard of living when one has to abandon ship when the heat arrives. Yes, we might need to work on urban cleanliness and crime. Our food choices are pretty global. So, I good in that department.

Did the advent of air conditioning mark the beginning of the end of civilization? Here in my advancing years, I am perhaps addicted to air conditioning. So I will leave it to others to watch the end of civilization. I will probably have joined the Mrs. Smiths in the great by-and-by.

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Image credit: Word Press AI.

I find it fascinating to let the AI take care of some of the images. It reads the post and constructs an image from its sense of the articles. Fascinating, scary and probably just a prelude to SkyNet.