Sticking it to the Man

Sometimes I like to be stubborn, just to prove I am. I am think I am displaying a certain behavior, but when it comes down to it, I just want to prove that I can do X. My family grew up, except for a four month hiatus, without a dishwasher. When people asked my Mom why we didn't have one, she would say, "I don't need a dishwasher, I already have nine of them." These were her nine children living at home, of course. Hyuk, hyuk. In college I maintained that I didn't really believe in dishwashers. I had many reasons why - because everyone pre-rinsed anyway, so dishwashers didn't save on water usage, nor time. Because I lived with roommates who all ate at different times, and didn't pre-rinse, and the dishwasher was run erratically, and the caked on food never came off.

I to this day have not had a dishwasher in mine and Avram's marriage, except for when we lived with his parents. I have also (except for right now, when my house is falling apart because Avram was gone all week at a convention here in Columbus, and it is heart wrenching to do dishes when you miss your spouse. That's my excuse) gotten over my latent hatred of dishes, and now I do not mind doing them. Usually.

Having said all this, I recognize that when we eventually move into a house that has a dishwasher, I do not think I will tear it out, nor will I use it as a storage for extra pots. No, I will succumb, and fall in line with the rest of middle class America. It turns out my not liking dishwashers, while still having valid points (such as the pre-rinsing. If I'm going to bother rinsing, I can just add some soap, and call it washing?), is mainly just me being stubborn. Against what, I must wonder? Perhaps the middle class myth of necessities in America.

Air conditioning is the same way. We had a swamp cooler growing up in my home, which worked fine, although very local to the living room where it was contained. After I had gone off to boarding school or college my parents upgraded to central air, but regardless I did not grow up sans AC. Avram did, however. Despite living in the jungle like humidity of Virginia, plus heat that makes you melt into a puddle under a fan and lie there in a comatose state throughout the day (not to mention their Summer lasts around five months long), his family never had AC. So when we were married, we did not automatically buy a little portable apartment AC. And because we both worked that first Summer, and usually weren't home during the heat of the day, we never really missed one.

Then the next summer I had Lydia as a newborn, but I learned to leave my windows open at night, and then close them and the blinds at 10 am the next morning, and the house kept its cool for the day.

Then we lived (after briefly melting our brains in Virginia) in England, where we were still using heat intermittently in June. If you ever visit England, I suggest packing a variety of cardigans and other jackets.

Which brings us (after once more losing more brain capacity in Virginia) to Ohio. In April I rearranged our love seat and placed it directly in front of the built in swamp cooler AC unit. I was bound and determined to not use it. I suppose to save money, but mostly to prove to the world that I didn't need an AC, and that I would be alright without one. We're tough! We like to sweat! Up until this past week my Summer has been according to plan. We had had a couple of really hot days, but they were intermittent with nice storms, and all was well. Our house never felt uncomfortable, just warm. I didn't even sweat. Then this week we were on a heat wave, although it was only the upper '80s, but with humidity, and I have been dying. Monday through Thursday I saw many women in the Ward for various activities, and somehow the subject of dying in the heat (while sitting in their Air Conditioned houses) always came up. Looking back, I realize I sounded like the biggest, cheapest wimp of central Ohio.

Then on Thursday a storm hit in the evening. As the rain started pounding down, and a fine mist of water came through the open window, I felt my heart lift within me. I loved the storm, and I felt my heart knit as one with the pioneers, who must have looked for relief from heat from the weather as much as I did. That night the main floor of our townhouse was blessedly cool. Then next day continued with clouds, and our upstairs cooled off as well. I could finally sleep without constant tossing and turning. Since then the weather has been moderate, and I find myself thinking, "We don't really need the AC. I'm fine. Despite the fact that now my whole Relief Society thinks that I complain a lot about my own decision to not use AC, I really am OK." I really am Ok, and I have made my peace, for this week, with the weather.

By the way, this explains my absence from blogging. Our computer is upstairs, and every time I would get on it, the heat would melt my brain, and it would dribble out my ears, and I often could not even remember why I was on the computer, let alone my blog topic.

But I have realized that ultimately I do not not use the AC to save money. It probably saves me $30 a month - a little bit, but not worth making a fool of myself to my feminine social groups by constant complaining. No, I do not use AC so I can stick it to the man. That middle class man, the one that says AC is a necessity. He's also the one with the Dishwasher. And the TV.

Except TV is one place I actually have belief behind my odd habits. Avram and I have never owned a TV until this year. And this TV is old enough it doesn't pick up digital channels, nor do we ever plan to buy the little subsidized doo-hickley that receives digital programming. I do not ever plan, nor want to receive TV in my home. I have the TV because I got tired of squinting when watching movies on our computer. But sometimes, such as when I was visited by the Living Scriptures salesman this past week, I wish that I didn't have one still, because then I could simply say, "I don't have a TV," and that would be the end of that. Now I have to go on about how it may look like a TV, but do not be fooled, it is only a Movie Monitor. I think I'll start calling it my MM. That'll show the Man.

Yet I am never tempted to have a TV, and except when the Olympics or Conference is on I don't complain about it either. Because to me a TV is a colossal time waster, and I already have the Internet for that. And although I'd like to pretend that someday I could theoretically get rid of the Internet, I would have to then write my blog from the Library. And in the words of Lydia, "That's silly!"