Page:

So you’re standing there in the basement and you tell that woman, "The new boiler will have an AFUE of 87 percent. The old boiler’s AFUE was only 67 percent. Isn’t that wonderful!" She’s doing the math in her head. "So, you’re guaranteeing me that I’m going to save 20 percent on my fuel bills from now on?" she asks. "Well, I can’t guarantee it. It depends," you say. This conversation has kept more old boilers in basements that any other conversation in the history of central heating. We begin by being wishy-washy, and then we talk about efficiency during a time of stable fuel prices. We are wasting our breath. Moving on. Does the average person give a hoot about the environment? I mean, unless the EPA is pounding on the door, will the average person get rid of that old boiler simply because it’s polluting the air we breathe? Survey says . . . Nope! Think about it. You take your car to the mechanic for its annual inspection. The guy sticks a probe up your car’s tailpipe. Are you thinking about the environment right about then? Or are you just hoping that everything is okay because you don’t want to spend any money making unexpected repairs? Be honest with yourself. It’s about upsetting the family budget again, isn’t it? As it is with the average person. You’re probably not thinking about the Sierra Club while you’re waiting to get your car back, are you? Trust me, the average person isn’t thinking about the Audubon Society while you’re explaining how that new boiler will burn cleaner. They’re thinking about themselves. The truth is we’re all selfish. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s just the way we are. We usually don’t do things unless there’s something in it for us. Or unless there’s some perceived and immediate danger to us if we don’t do something. Here, consider asbestos. Asbestos used to be a wonderful thing. I can remember being hit in the puss on more than one occasion by balls of asbestos whilst visiting fun-loving contractors in the boiler rooms of New York City. Someday I will die because the mortality rate of people who have been exposed to asbestos is a shocking 100 percent. Nowadays, however, asbestos is a feared material because scientists have thoroughly explained that shocking statistic to the average person. A few years ago, the fear of asbestos in New York City schools was great enough to close those schools and give millions of youngsters an extended summer vacation while the abatement took place. The average person was suddenly very interested in the environment because there was a perceived and immediate danger to their children. The average person cried out, "They should do something about this!" And "they" did. Here in the New York Metropolitan area, officials have managed to convince the average person that it is to their benefit to have both their property and themselves sprayed from helicopters and trucks with the poison Malathion. These officials have been able to get near-total public support for this because there is a perceived and immediate threat from tiny mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus. Malathion, which normally scares the heck out of the average person, has suddenly become the cure for the more immediate threat posed by this tiny mosquito. Interesting, isn’t it? Page:

Dan Holohan - [Intro] | [Email] | [Website]

The views expressed in this article are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of MasterPlumbers.com

© 1995 - , MasterPlumbers.com. All Rights Reserved.    A Nicesite.