Long sleeve shirts and sweaters in 70-degree F air.
Last July, I did a seminar in another Holiday Inn. It was hot and humid that day, but in our conference room the air-conditioning system was keeping the temperature at 70-degrees F, and the humidity level was just fine. The people at that seminar were wearing short-sleeve shirts. Some even wore shorts. They had gotten up that morning and dressed for the summer. When they got to the Holiday Inn, the indoor temperature and humidity were pretty much the same as they were during the winter, but no one wore a long-sleeved shirt, and no one wore a sweater. And had I asked why no one was dressed that way, the people in the room would have looked at me like I was crazy. Just as they would have looked at me if I had asked during the winter why no one was wearing shorts.
Ever stop to think about that? Comfort is perception, and the majority rules. People dress the way others dress on any given day, regardless of the indoor temperature.
I'm writing this on February 7. I'm sitting on a lanai on the island of Maui, looking at the blue Pacific. It’s 80-degrees F right now, with a gentle breeze. I'm wearing shorts and a snazzy Hawaiian shirt. I am perfectly comfortable and in a state of complete bliss. There's no need for air conditioning here because no one is using air conditioning on Maui today. Crazy as that may sound.
The condo where Marianne and I are staying has air conditioning but we're not using it, and neither are our neighbors. Is it hot? Yep. Is it humid? You bet. Why no AC? Because no one else is using it.
Marianne and I went out to dinner last night. We were in a Chinese restaurant and the temperature inside was pretty much what it was outside, that being wonderfully warm. All the windows in the restaurant were wide open and the ceiling fans were stirring the air lazily. None of the diners complained, and everyone seemed to be moving a bit slower because of the tropical warmth. I mentioned to Marianne that if this restaurant were in New York City and there was no air conditioning on an 80-degree day the owner would be on the phone, screaming at some poor slob contractor. Here, everyone thinks no AC is normal, which it is.
Comfort is perception, and as long as everyone is okay with it then it's okay.
Majority rules.
When we were kids we had no air conditioning. My brother and I were tickled pink if we got to have an oscillating fan in our bedroom. We slept in our drawers and that's just the way it was. If it was really hot, we slept in the backyard, and this was the biggest deal in the world to my brother and me. Now, if I have to sleep without air conditioning on the Isle of Long I get grouchy. Why? Because my neighbors have air conditioning and if they have it then I have to have it too.
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