I sit there, moderately uncomfortable, as my large air conditioner wall unit is blasting cold air onto my head. I grab a spare blanket and put it over my head and body, protecting myself from the perpetrator called cold air. My friends and I are sitting at the dining table right by the AC unit, and we’re playing a casual, yet intense, game of Settlers of Catan. I recently bought the expansion pack, so it was 3 players on a board a tad too big for us.
The game is fun and peaceful; no one is tilted at another – well, at least not yet. We normally don’t play with the robber, and even though we did this time, it was a low-stress game nonetheless.
“Hey, can we pwease turn off the air conditioner?” one of my friends asks in a baby voice, intending to sound cute. She taps her two index fingers together as if that gesture is supposed to persuade me to say yes to her request. I give her a blank stare, my usual reaction to her exaggerated cuteness.
I reach over and turn the AC off, and the game continues.
Around 10 minutes pass, and there’s a new type of discomfort: it’s too hot now.
I reach over to turn the AC back on with a new sense of annoyance. “If it’s on it’s too cold, and if it’s off it’s too hot!” I complain.
I promise myself that the next apartment I go to will have central AC rather than a wall unit.
– FromJeanLee