Darcy

BOOMER MOM: “You eat out too much.” GEN Z: “I cook every night.” BOOMER MOM: “Groceries can’t be that expensive.” GEN Z: “I spent $310 last week.” BOOMER MOM: “For one person?!” GEN Z: “Eggs are $7. Chicken is $9 a pound.” BOOMER MOM: “You’re shopping wrong.” GEN Z: “Store brand. Sales. Coupons. Everything.” BOOMER MOM: “We fed a family of four for $100 a week.” GEN Z: “That was 1987.” BOOMER MOM: “Excuses.” Walmart made $16 billion in profit last year. Grocery bills up 36% since 2020. But sure. I just don’t know how to shop.

@Nicolas_Colin @Pmegmac We have those windows too.

Maybe you haven’t paid attention to French windows. They’re full height doors, so there’s no bottom sash to fit a standard AC exhaust kit. Window types, wall construction, apartment rules (if you’re renting), and installer availability matter far more than whether AC is “allowed” or sold in shops.

I don’t understand the whole “AC in Europe” debate. The controversy mostly exists to avoid a much simpler reality: you cannot roll out air conditioning across Europe at the scale and speed needed to solve immediate problems such as the current heatwave. Several factors are at play: • Europe did not used to experience this level of heat. Climate change has changed the picture, and relatively quickly. • Much of Europe’s building stock is old, often centuries old. These buildings were designed to moderate temperature with features such as thick walls and natural ventilation, not to accommodate modern air conditioning systems. • Those historic buildings are a huge asset. Their façades are part of what makes European cities attractive and economically valuable. You cannot simply cover them with external AC units without damaging that heritage. • Even with strong political will, who would pay for a continent-wide retrofit that preserves historic architecture? The cost would run into hundreds of billions of euros. • And even if the money were available, could manufacturers produce the equipment fast enough? Could installers be trained and hired quickly enough? Europe already faces labour shortages in many skilled trades. So where would the workforce come from? More immigration? That would simply create another round of the same xenophobic arguments that already dominate public debate. So that’s the short version: Europe will not have universal air conditioning anytime soon. Much of its building stock was not designed for it, and the necessary resources, money, industrial capacity, supply chains, and labour simply do not exist at the required scale. Air conditioning will spread, and in many places it already is. But it will happen gradually, starting with newer buildings where installation is easier and cheaper, and expanding as investment, production capacity, and skilled labour grow. There may even be an upside. As modern buildings become better adapted to hotter summers, some of the premium currently attached to beautiful old buildings may diminish, making them more affordable. In the meantime, people invent cultural controversies. Americans, in particular, seem unable to resist them. A European heatwave somehow becomes another opportunity for Europe-bashing, social media outrage, and people taking sides in a debate that ignores the practical constraints. It’s much easier to argue about why Europe doesn’t have air conditioning than to explain how you would install it across an entire continent.

@cultured_spice @TheGhoulestMom You’re being hospitalized and dying because you refuse to take measures to adapt.

@TheGhoulestMom People are being hospitalised and dying here because of this heatwave. Personally that wouldn’t be “sending me”, but you do you.

I know infrastructure is different and whatever but England being in a record breaking HEAT WAVE with warnings and the highs are like 86 f is sending me because 86 is a cool summer day for some of us. Can we send y’all some ACs as aid overseas? 😂😅

@lanalahl6 @NinaR0ndeau @Namek623016 @PopBase You think the US is all rich? We’ve adapted. Or just keep dying. It’s up to you.

@NotAnotherDarcy @NinaR0ndeau @Namek623016 @PopBase yea because we are all rich hmhm

France recorded its hottest-ever day yesterday with an average temperature of 29.8°C Around 40 people are confirmed to have drowned while swimming in efforts to cool down. (theguardian.com/world/2026/jun…)

@clur_roberts Yeah, the US has massive climate differences too.

Doing my head in now...Americans going on about Europe as if it is one country! There's 44 countries in Europe and there's a massive difference in climate between Spain and Iceland!

@zobiwankenobii @electrajpeg You wouldn’t need to own your home. Why do you all think ac is some massive installation? You can get portable ac. You can even get a mini ac/fan for the office. So many options are available. Figure it out. Also, I’ve never heard of maximum working temp laws in my life.

@NotAnotherDarcy @electrajpeg if you own your own home, yeah if you rent or spend all day at work there's nothing you can do to control it. unlike the US we have no maximum working temp laws so a lot of offices have no AC

People joke around a lot about how wimpy the UK is during heat waves bc of how hot it gets elsewhere. But I genuinely I have a lot of empathy for them. Their infrastructure is NOT built for heat at all, and they’re reaching dangerous wet bulb temps without AC in most buildings

@Jujudeerie 1) you can buy a/c just the same as we can and 2) google is available wherever you are

@NotAnotherDarcy With what bruh 😭 And do not say AC because we do not have that

you do know that the temperatures are measured in the shade… right?

@Jimothy48500311 @electrajpeg

@electrajpeg Plus you probably (I think some are exempt) get AC without a permit so if you listen to the "just get an AC" without knowing that you can essentially end up having wasted all the money you spent being forced to remove it.

“UK houses are built to trap heat!” I fear you people are the dumbest on the planet.

@NinaR0ndeau @Namek623016 @PopBase Then adapt

@Namek623016 @PopBase infrastructure in phoenix are made for hot weather but european infrastructure are not, we actually not supposed to go over 25-30·C

@Suma_rin @ayeejuju Yes, and that average is low.

@ayeejuju "Average"

europeans gotta be the weakest mfs on the planet

@snootpants @joshhfm @ayeejuju Them not having ac is a choice. They can get it just as easily as we can.

@joshhfm @ayeejuju Americans don’t understand that most Europeans countries don’t have air conditioning in every house lol if it got above 82° I’d be sweating. I don’t tolerate heat well. I’m from the US. So imagine someone who isn’t used to that type of heat. Yeah it would suck lol

@Jujudeerie @njkoospanda Then cool the air.

@njkoospanda "Fans exist" my fan is doing NOTHING. It's so hot, the wind my fan is creating is doing literally nothing because it's just warm air

@njkoospanda This has to be rage bait.

like how are we supposed to find refuge in the shade when the temperatures are measured in the shade, you moron

@7_e_2_1 @aledornell I went outside today and saw hundreds of people. Why do you people think we don’t go outside?

@aledornell I think a lot of the disconnect comes from Americans just not really going outside (except for some that do it as a primary activity). In europe people just spend a lot more time outdoors. For cold weather it doesn't matter. If its -15c you just put on another layer of clothes.

Do Europeans also refuse to use heating in the winter because “it doesn’t make the outside warmer”

@19MM76 @aledornell Then stop complaining about the heat. It’s not even that hot outside there.

@aledornell The argument is being made because we don't want to lock ourselves inside with an ac. Here 4-5 months of the year you may as well call "grey season" where we are very lucky to have a day in between without clouds. So when those skies open up we want to be outside much as possible

@CastleJust @ZaidJilani There is no need to retrofit anything. AC is similarly priced in the majority of Europe as it is in the US. It’s just a bunch of dumb excuses.

@ZaidJilani They don't, but the retrofit into old buildings is often prohibitively expensive. Add in conservation rules and even if you could afford it, you can't do it.

Why do Europeans dislike air conditioning?

@_A_100_M @Y2SHAF This is a joke right? The humidity in the UK isn’t even that bad.

@Y2SHAF They’re not as congested by buildings so you feel more of the air etc, have more trees planted outdoors. Also, UK has high humidity which makes it feel way worse. Deserts in the Middle East/even parts of Asia and Africa don’t feel as bad as this as they’re more open.

Their infrastructure is built to deal with high temperatures. They get more breeze etc due to not having as many buildings made of concrete etc and built in AC everywhere. 40/50° doesn’t feel as bad outside the UK.

Why do Europeans think they have bad humidity? And like they’re the only ones with it? It’s not even bad most places there …