It’s impossible not to be relieved at the fact that we have just dodged yet another bullet with TS Isaac. I hope that our Gulf neighbors who are still in its path will be safe as well.
This kind of stuff always makes me think about how our modern day conveniences are sometimes taken for granted and how lucky we are when we dodge natural disasters that could easily take them away. How we sometimes forget that these modern day necessities make it possible for us to live wherever we want. Having gone through Charlie, I still remember what it was like to have such conveniences, like electricity, communications and a/c suddenly cut off. For instance, here I sit comfortably in my office on a muggy, rainy morning while the temperature outside hovers in mid eighties. Imagine for moment what life for us would be like without air conditioning? Would we build our homes differently? Would our place of work still be the same? How about the areas of the country we live in? Would you want to live in the subtropics without a/c? Try and fathom what it would be like to be in a 50-story, concrete building without any a/c in the middle of August. The fact is that as a society, we would have not advanced to our level of living without the advent of air conditioning. We are able to build houses in places that where all but desolate 70 years ago. We can work in 50-story buildings and taller in the hottest times of the year and still be very comfortable. Because of air conditioning or heating, we can make ourselves very comfortable in areas of the world that we would have never considered before. Also, keep in mind that air conditioning and refrigeration are one in the same. So, think about your fridge/freezer as a concentrated air conditioner. The advent of refrigeration has also changed the way we live. There is no longer the daily trip to the market to obtain that day’s food. We can now go to a warehouse store and buy enough stuff for a month or longer. So, as we watch our Gulf neighbors as they brace for this storm, please take a moment to remember how fortunate we are to still have our favorite conveniences.
As always, thanks for reading,
Bryan
Bryan Hayes, along with his brother Todd, is a co-owner of a Sanibel Air Conditioning company on Sanibel, FL. They also own and operate an island-based electrical service company Sanctuary Island Electric, Inc. Bryan can be reached at Bryan@Sanibelair.com
