Air Conditioning HAS changed our way of life. Not the atmosphere or pollution of the air but our lifestyles.
It’s nothing dangerous but has impacted our lives tremendously when it comes to even knowing who your neighbor is.
Back in time when I was a boy air conditioning was only for the very rich. In the evenings during the summer it was so hot in our homes (South Texas) that everyone sat outside in the yard or on the front porch to “air the house out” which meant all windows were open so the afternoon breeze could cool the house until it was cool enough to even go inside.
With this in mind, everyone outside got to know their neighbors who came to visit or who walked down the street in the evening. You knew everyone, from their kids to anyone living in the house.
Air conditioning destroyed that way of life and now most people only know who is living next to them and very little else. It’s a shame because crime was down simply because everyone knew everyone else and a stranger in the neighborhood was instantly noticed and watched.
Those days are gone, never to come back again.
Same here in the DC area during the fifties. Parents would chat with neighbors outside and we kids would be chasing lighting bugs.
Now many kids don’t seem to have any idea what lightning bugs are.
Another small, but lasting, joy denied.
THEN things will be normal again.