When I told my kids I went to school in Texas without air conditioning they freaked out

[luvMIdog]

The other day we were talking about packing lunches & I mentioned how when I was a kid it was a wonder I was never poisoned from baloney and mayo sandwiches with warm milk after they had sat in my lunchbox in that hot classroom. My daughter asked why the classroom was hot & I told her back then we did not have any air conditioning at that school. She just freaked out hahaha

I still hate baloney because of that though

[hunter]

1. Same in inland California.

Nothing quite like a non-air-conditioned classroom built for 25 crowded with 40 teenagers after lunch when it's 95 or hotter outside.

When my wife and I were teaching we'd bring our own big electric fans; fans we'd bought with our own money.

When I was in school my parents were aware of the food safety issues. My mom was especially wary of mayonnaise, and suggested peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and an apple. (We made our own lunches, and rarely had any sort of lunch meat in the house.)

[luvMIdog]

2. maybe my step mom was hoping I'd drop dead lol

I have always hated the heat. I found it difficult to concentrate on those really hot days. We had a fan in one class but the teacher had it aimed at just herself hahahaha

[haele]

11. Even in Coastal California...

Mom would check the weather the night before. If it seemed it was going to be above 75 - no mayo, meat, or dairy in the school lunch. (which was okay, as I hated most mayo)
So early fall/late spring, I'd be sent to school with a lunch-box that had PB&J (or PB & honey) with a side piece of fruit or carrot/celery sticks wrapped in a napkin with peanut butter in a screw-top to dip in. And the thermos would contain barely sweetened Wylers or plain water with a slice of lemon or lime.

They at least had a chill box in the cafeteria for milk if you had a nickel to give the teacher.

[whistler162]

3. Only a few areas in the

schools I work in have A/C.

[luvMIdog]

4. I hope you don't work where it's really hot

[whistler162]

8. Only in the late Spring,

Summer, and early Fall. Central New York state.

[femmocrat]

5. We still don't have air-conditioned schools here (PA).

I don't remember minding it as a kid, but when I was teaching, it was unbearable. I would be soaking wet from the minute I entered the building until I got in the car to go home. Oh god, I don't miss that.

Yes, I bought my own fans for all four of my classrooms (I traveled between buildings.) People would "borrow" my fans on the days I was out of the building!
Nothing would put me in a lousier mood than having to go track down my fans!

[luvMIdog]

6. that is one of my pet peeves - people borrowing without asking & then not returning

That would have aggravated me too

[procon]

7. I, too, was traumatized by slimey, room temperature lunchmeat as a child.

I still can't eat that stuff to this day. I look at poor boy sandwiches and subs and sometimes I'm tempted, but then the old memories kick in and I pass. The only exceptions I ever buy is deli sliced ham where I can watch it being sliced, and pepperoni or hard salami is OK. Oddly enough, while cold cuts make me gag, the occasional braunschweiger chub is a delicacy that I can handle a couple of times a year.

[zeusdogmom]

9. There is nothing like lukewarm curdly milk

And the school rule "drink it all". Cannot drink milk to this day - and never made my kids drink it either unless it was their choice.

[oberliner]

10. Quarter of All NYC Public School Classrooms Have No Air Conditioning: Study

MANHATTAN — One out of every four classrooms in NYC public schools have no air conditioning — making it too hot to learn in the summer months, according to a report released Tuesday by Park Slope City Councilman Brad Lander.

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170307/park-slope/air-conditioning-nyc-public-schools

[Jakes Progress]

12. Memory Rush: September in Houston Elementary School

Complete with baloney and mayo sandwich. We were required to drink a carton of white milk at lunch. (I remember sneaking in those straws with powdered flavor in them to try to get my milk down. I'm very lactose intolerant.) At least the school provided the milk from a cooler.

The memory I pass on to my grandchildren is that of writing in pencil on a Big Chief tablet only to have the sweat from my arm dissolve the pulpy paper before I finished. Good seats were near the ubiquitous humming fans. I don't know how the teachers could stand the sixth grade classrooms after recess. They finally air-conditioned the schools the year I graduated from high school.

[luvMIdog]

13. hahaha I have the same memories sweat running all off your face onto your papers ..

[trof]

14. A/C? Jeez we had coal stoves in winter.

Late 40s, beginning of the post war baby boom.
Main brick building had steam heat radiators.

The added on 'annex' had coal stoves.


It was fun to spit on them and hear it sputter and sizzle.
The 'good' BOYS (NEVER any girls) got to feed lumps of coal into the stove.
Them wuz the days.

[luvMIdog]

15. lol ok you win. We were warm in the winter :P

[trof]

16. You're talking to a guy that would have KILLED for A/C back then.

OK.
I exaggerate.
A liddle bit

During my FIVE years in high school (Yeah, count 'em...FIVE ) I spent FOUR years in Summer School.
In Birmingham Alabama.
It gets really hot in B'ham and there weren't no A.C in schools back than.

Chemistry and trig were my nemisi?
Nemisesis?

Whatever.
They were beyond me.

[luvMIdog]

17. Yeah it's hard to think about math and science while you're sweating buckets :D

*grin* well my step mom said we were spoiled brats for wanting air conditioning ...

[rurallib]

18. my elemntary was built before the 20th century in the north

the kids sitting in the row by the windows half froze and half sweated.
It was damned cold by those windows.

[Laffy Kat]

19. In Memphis schools, too.

We didn't know any better. It was soooo humid on top of the heat. I remember when they built the annex for the fourth through sixth grades with central a/c, and oddly enough I hated that just as much because the classrooms were absolutely freezing in the summer. Two temperatures at Grandview Elementary: too hot and too cold. I think I have yet to warm up. LOL.

[Grammy23]

20. Adding to the misery index was the fact that girls were not allowed to wear pants or shorts.

Boys were not allowed to wear shorts, either. The ONLY time girls were allowed to wear long pants was if it was bitterly cold and then they had to be worn under our dress. Even in Jackson, MS we had winter weather that occasionally brought snow or ice, so I do remember going to school layered up with long, corduroy pants under my dress and a parka.

In May, as the temps and humidity soared, teachers always had a fan while we kids sweated buckets. We had crank out windows that were only partially opened. I remember slipping my shoes off and putting my bare feet on the tile floor because it seemed to help cool me off. 🤗

[luvMIdog]

21. OH yes we had that too. The ban on girls wearing pants & when they finally lets is wear them...

they had to be pants SUITS that were to be inspected as we walked through the door

[3catwoman3]

22. We would make a week's worth of sandwiches every...

...Sunday night, and my mom would freeze then for the week to come. Her thinking was that the sandwiches wouldn't spoil because they were frozen, and they would thaw out in time for lunch.

Frozen egg salad does not thaw in a pleasing manner - It changes the flavor, and the bread was always soggy. I cannot stand egg salad to this day. Nor white bread.

[luvMIdog]

23. ewww you poor thing I'll bet that was nasty lol