I’m really not an extroverted person.
When people meet me, for some reason they often think that I am a real social butterfly.
They expect me to want to go to parties, to continually eat out at restaurants, and to entertain all of their friends. To be honest with you, I am much happier being locked in a room by myself and minding my own business. However, this isn’t always a possibility as an adult. Especially in the context of a relationship. My girlfriend continually demands that we go out and do social things. Unfortunately, some of that includes staying at her hot and stuffy in-laws house. Now, I don’t know about you but I am not a fan of unmanaged indoor air quality. If I’m in a house without any central heating or cooling equipment I am not a happy camper. I don’t enjoy the sensation of humid, oppressive air streaming in from the windows and choking me with me airborne moisture. I tend to get sweaty and uncomfortable if I don’t have air conditioning blowing around me at all times. The problem is even worse at night, when I absolutely require an ice cold environment to fall asleep. Unfortunately, my in-laws don’t believe in any of these heating and cooling measures. They are constantly turning off the central HVAC system to save energy and to the planet. This means I have a lot of very uncomfortable visits with my in-laws—due to the air temperature as much as they’re prickly personalities. I’ll never forget the day that I figured out a solution to this HVAC problem. I woke up in the middle of the night, drove to the nearest store, and bought a portable AC unit for my bedroom. Whatever it takes to make my girl happy.