What?! I’m sorry…come again. You know that it’s 6 degrees outside – the winds straight out of the northwest make it feel like –25… Yes…that white stuff piling up on the lawn is indeed the stuff we call snow… That is correct.

Alas, in some places across the cold northern Plains, the chilly Great Lakes, and the frigid New England states, the AC is buzzing – churning out more cool air in homes, businesses, cars even (to defog the windows of course).

What’s going on exactly? Are we mad?!

Why would the AC be turned on under any circumstances as it stands right now (unless you live in a state where temperatures hover in the 70’s or 80’s, eg. Florida). I just don’t get it. I have now witnessed the cold (from the inside) on two separate occasions this winter season. What a waste of energy, wouldn’t you agree?

I’ll discuss one such occasion. Years ago I worked for a large telecommunication firm that was housed in an enormous skyscraper in downtown Toronto…and I can tell you that on a regular basis, the climate control system for this building was completely out of whack. I would come in from the snow, and the cold Canadian temperatures, and the gusty northwesterly winds that would pound you into submission as you tried to maintain consciousness while mustering the strength to make it to the main lobby doors. It can be that cold. Whew. Now I’m shielded from the elements. I feel the blood circulating again. There is heat in this lobby and the heat is good. But alas…this refuge is short lived. I still have to make my way to the 6th floor, to my company’s offices and it is there that I revisit the winter climate (a walled-in arctic tundra of sorts, with a woosh of northerly air coming for an overhead – this time from the inside. One didn’t dare shed the layers too quickly (the winter parka, the hat, the gloves, scarf, the thermal vest, etc…) once nestled into the small cubicles on that 6th floor…because, for some unimaginable reason, the air-conditioning was turned on – full blast, for full effect. The reason? Quite simply, no one had one. The explanation. Could get one. The madness. Clearly defined. The effects… hmmm, well let’s list some shall we…

I would catch colds in that office. My colleagues, peers, too – would catch colds. You could barely get any work done. You would be shaking, shivering, on the verge of hypothermia (or so it seemed). But there would always be some manager who would defend the situation, you know the type…maintaining that it was “company policy to have the building’s management team operate and maintain the climate control best suited to the needs of all tenants…” Blah blah blah. The bottom line was that they didn’t know…nobody knew how to turn it on or off, how to set a comfortable temperature the entire floor… the AC was an unruly beast, very much in control, in and of itself, like a wild beast…evil…diabolical actually…

Perhaps I am still feeling the after effects, post traumatically…