I often find it funny how things can be so interconnected without us even realizing. How one decision can grow to impact so much. I read a book once by Andy Andrews, titled The Butterfly Effect: How Your Life Matters. The gist of the book describes that very thing — how seemingly insignificant decisions that people made ended up having a lasting effect. I wonder if Willis Carrier, the “Father of Air Conditioning” had any idea how much of an impact his invention of the modern air conditioner in 1902 would have on the world–or from my perspective, for me.
If you know me, even a little bit, you will know how much I hate being hot. I mean I really hate it. One time, when Bobby and I were first married, we lived in an apartment on the second floor of this really old building. (A large house converted into three apartments.) It was a great place, except for the fact it didn’t have air conditioning. That didn’t matter so much when we first moved in, but by July that year, it was suffocating. I had the worse time trying to sleep. Bobby made the “executive decision” that we needed a/c and we needed it ASAP no matter how we bought it (i.e. on credit). It was a window air conditioning unit that he set up in our bedroom. Again, because this was an old house, the rooms were huge. We had a table in the room as well as his computer desk and of course our bed and dressers. We moved the TV into the room and then basically lived in it for three or four months each year during the summers. The only time we had to venture out of it was to go to the kitchen or the bathroom.
Air conditioning has been such an integral part of our lives, it is hard to estimate its value. When we purchased our mobile home brand new, I made sure that it had central air. There was no way I’d live anywhere again without it. However, when it was first set up on the lot we rented in Hillsboro, Ohio, the a/c unit was immediately installed. I was told this was due to the fact that it was “the a/c guys busy time” and that they would set it up in a couple of weeks. Thankfully we had our trusty window unit in our dining room window, but I still made a not so gentle plea to the salesman that he get the a/c guys to my house sooner rather than later. They were there that afternoon.
I’m telling you all this because as I was driving in my air conditioned car from work (that I do in an air conditioned office building) to my air conditioned home, I thought how my appreciation of a/c would need to become a Whatnot post. I had found out several years ago on a tour of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, when it was located in Akron, Ohio, that Willis Carrier was the inventor of air conditioning. I told Bobby on that day that he had become my favorite inventor!
I did a little research and it turns out that July 17, 1902, was the date that Willis Carrier invented the air conditioning unit. Because he did that, it really did revolutionize my world. A/C makes it possible for me to enjoy the movies with my dad on (or around) his birthday each July. A/C makes it possible for me to enjoy chocolate candy even through the hot months of summer, because confectioners can still produce it. (Turns out candy makers were one of the first to adopt the use of a/c for the production of sweets–including my beloved chocolate). Carrier Industries was instrumental in the developing enclosed shopping centers, which makes it possible for me to walk hand-in-hand with Bobby around the mall. (Which is something I always wanted to do when I was a teenager–walk with a guy at the mall holding hands.) Central a/c makes it possible for peace and harmony to reign in our home, because as they say “when Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
So on this day, when you are reading this on your computer or other device, remember Willis Carrier’s awesome and life changing invention. I am pretty sure I will be! In fact, because of a trip we are on in New York City, I really have been enjoying air conditioning. It has been “wicked” hot (like they might say in Boston), which makes a/c that more refreshing when we enter one of the many air conditioned buildings located in NYC.
