When I agreed to chaperone my daughter’s eighth-grade field trip, I imagined walking around an air conditioned calculus museum.
Since the trip was busy for the end of the university year, in mid July, when the outside temperature is properly tepid and humid, I never considered an outdoor excursion.
I’d already committed to the trip when I l received that we’d be exploring an old fort. I immediately realized that a fort built for the Revolutionary War, while in the late 1760’s, wouldn’t supply any category of air conditioning. The field trip was truly much worse than I anticipated. Every one of us took a university bus with no air conditioning or seat belts for the 2-hour drive. The windows only opened a tiny bit for the sake of safety, and the bus felt like an oven, and plus, a group of happy eighth-graders are severely loud. I didn’t dare drink any water, due to a lack of a bathroom and ended up totally dehydrated. By the time every one of us arrived at the fort, I had a splitting head and was wet with sweat. I was assigned a group of more than three women, and every one of us headed straight for the cantine for some chilly drinks. I suddenly figured out that the cantine and gift shop are air conditioned, and that’s where every one of us spend the majority of our day. Every one of us managed a truly quick tour of the fort, however with no shade, high humidity and a temperature of 89 degrees, none of us were all that interested in the historical facts; Getting back on the bus to head house was torture.