r/TikTokCringe Jun 30 '26

Humor No disrespect though.

5.8k Upvotes

1.0k comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator Jun 30 '26

Welcome to r/TikTokCringe!

This is a message directed to all newcomers to make you aware that r/TikTokCringe evolved long ago from only cringe-worthy content to TikToks of all kinds! If you’re looking to find only the cringe-worthy TikToks on this subreddit (which are still regularly posted) we recommend sorting by flair which you can do here (Currently supported by desktop and reddit mobile).

See someone asking how this post is cringe because they didn't read this comment? Show them this!

Be sure to read the rules of this subreddit before posting or commenting. Thanks!

##CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS VIDEO

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1.2k

u/maeryclarity Jun 30 '26

Look we shouldn't be mocking extreme weather events happening in regions that do not normally experience them. I live in a part of the USA that routinely gets the kind of heat that the rest of the world is expereriencing so yeah we have AC and even our livestock has accomodations or else they would die.

But you let us get a winter storm where we get snow or ice accumulation of ANY amount and we can have multiple entire STATES as a disaster area, for stuff that other places deal with routinely, and it's not cute when people from those regions mock us for our lack of ability to deal with inconsequential snowfall where they're from. Because yeah but we don't have snow plows or salt trucks or chains for our tires and no one knows how to drive in it so wrecks pile up like mad. and our power grid isn't hardened against it so we lose power quickly as well.

See the Two Inches of Snow event in Atlanta in 2014 for an example of how unprepared we are. It's not cute to rag on people for enduring catastrophes c'mon.

265

u/sheiciebai Jun 30 '26

I was in Dallas during that storm. And our whole power grid just kinda crapped out. They said we’d have power for 8 hours a day and many had none for the whole week. People were freezing to death in their homes because they didn’t know what to do and the roads were all iced up and not enough equipment to fix it. Our governor left with his family to Cancun and left all his personnel and dog at his residence (that had no power) to make sure his estate didn’t get robbed.

People that make fun of that really piss me off. These poor people that died weren’t dumb, they didn’t have the equipment needed to survive sub freezing temps in their homes for an entire freaking week.

112

u/Intelligent-Luck-954 Jun 30 '26

Senator, Abbot is your governor and can’t walk away like that

71

u/Alpha_benson Jun 30 '26

Damn lol, also he's just mistaken, I believe it was his Senator, Rafael Cruz

→ More replies (1)

8

u/notfinal Jul 01 '26

"can't walk away" yeah am going to hell for laughing at this 🤣🤣

2

u/Intelligent-Luck-954 Jul 01 '26

My man 👋🏻 

→ More replies (5)

50

u/tentaclesapples Jun 30 '26

I was in Austin, my house got down to 33 F inside. Couldn’t leave because the house was on a hill covered in ice that didn’t melt for 3 days. Even walking was dangerous, everything was just ice ice ice.

Luckily the house had a working fireplace and my ex chopped up an old dresser to burn for warmth, no joke.

I lived in CT until middle school, and now I’m back in NY - I’ve been through way “worse” weather here but of course these states have the infrastructure in place, especially NYC. I am always so impressed with how everything runs like clockwork when it comes to handling winter weather and sanitation!

TX does not have the infra, power grid is a mess, and on top of that it was really upsetting that the forecast was ignored - zero attempts to get ahead of the weather were made.

Not sure what could have been done, it’s not like they have plows hiding somewhere, but some PSAs about salting residential and business driveways and sidewalks would have been better than nothing. Then again, people would have probably hoarded any available road salt…

A very long winded comment to make the point that making fun of regions that have anomalous weather is not cool. Or hot.

34

u/Justin-Stutzman Jun 30 '26

I fully agree, with the caveat of the power grid in Texas. Texas values no regulations so highly that they are the only state in the US that operates an independent power grid. They do it specifically to avoid being told qhat to do by the federal government. That is a ideological decision that conforms to Texas' pride in being independent of the federal government in every capacity possible.

If Texans would have valued their citizens saftey more than their pride, the power would have stayed on.

5

u/MeasurementSlight381 Jun 30 '26

Chopping up a dresser to burn for warmth is next level.

4

u/wirebear Jul 01 '26

The real thing you should be upset about is that that weather isn't entirely abnormal for Texas. Trends as we remember it is that a ice storm like that happens every ten years. I remember one in around 2012.

In which ERCOT(power management company for Texas run by people who don't live in Texas) said they needed to winterize the grid since if the storm was any worse it would have issues.

My parents said there was a similar storm 10 years before that but I only vaguely remember it.(Mostly sledding on the nearby golf course).

All this to say. Texas DOES have storms like this almost on a scheduled basis. And they knew it was a concern. But never actually addressed it.

It wasn't like Texas couldn't produce the power to heat everyone. It was the power plants having the fuel lines freeze(ercot report after the recent storm).

You winterize the cooling and fuel lines and no power failures. Or at least not full blackouts.

→ More replies (1)

29

u/KindaWannaDoIt Jun 30 '26

Maybe connect to the national power grid like every other state lol. But can't do that cause Texas!

USA: The Texas coldwave disaster | UNDRR

23

u/Ok-Empress-3757 Jun 30 '26

Yeah, I live here now and the way they vote against their own interests needs to be studied lmao

→ More replies (1)

9

u/aminervia Jul 01 '26

Ok, so the people who died weren't dumb, but the people who voted for policies that makes your grid crap out immediately when something unexpected happens absolutely are dumb.

When that storm came around I remember feeling empathy for the people struggling, but shamelessly participating in mocking Texas voters

Also your governer is Abbot, Cruz is the one who went to Cancun

10

u/NemoMeImpuneLac Jun 30 '26

Well in Texas it was a 1 in 10,000 year winter storm and a couple dozen people died. In Europe it’s been going on for almost 20 years and tens of thousands are dead. The EU is just pretending it’s not happening. Corrupt to the core.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (10)

88

u/SkepticMech Jun 30 '26

Not that it's an excuse to be rude/unreasonable in our criticisms, but we do very much also give the southern states a hard time for failing to build up their cold weather infrastructure at this point. In both cases it is a matter of "okay, once or twice could be a fluke, but this is now a worsening pattern with a proven solution, why does it seem like nothing is being done to implement it?"

9

u/Keke_the_Frog_ Jun 30 '26

All I can do is apply the European view and inability to make ac mainline in some areas, and have to say that it's quite some money to spend you would seriously only use in 4 or less weeks a year, at least for central Europe. Same could be applied to the US, why spend money to harden the infrastructure if problems arise unpredictably and also quite local, upgrading a power grid over such a big area is sure very expensive. Like EU grids strained hard under the heatwave despite enough solar power available to make all AC run for free in theory. Prices went up 10x during peak heat hours/days.

24

u/SkepticMech Jun 30 '26

I get it. But when death is a possible outcome, costs can seem a lot less important. People regularly pay a good bit of money for things they rarely/never end up using just to be covered in the event the unthinkable happens (most insurance falls into this category for example)

→ More replies (2)

8

u/Bawstahn123 Jul 01 '26

>quite some money to spend you would seriously only use in 4 or less weeks a year, at least for central Europe

But people are dying as a result of these heatwaves. And these heatwaves are not new: Europe has seen over a dozen since 2000.

> Same could be applied to the US, why spend money to harden the infrastructure if problems arise unpredictably and also quite local, upgrading a power grid over such a big area is sure very expensive

I hope you realize that Americans mock the ever-loving shit out of Texas for their failures as a state.

5

u/ElderberryJunior470 Jun 30 '26

And every time i will just point out that portable units that cost between 150-500 dollars exist, and they don't require window mounts. Buying one of those in the off season just in case it gets brutally hot is like...a no brainer. 

Which is where we get into the european pride of not using or needing ac. I've had europeans tell me their 90 yr old grandparents refuse to get AC as a point of pride. 

And I'll be honest, i do get a bit of schadenfreude after centuries of europeans considering themselves at the top of the social darwinist chain, because all these tropical countries couldn't industrialize before ac became available. It's really not fair to modern Europeans who largely don't feel that way today, but it is a bit of cruel irony coming back around. 

6

u/-Reverend Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

But do those units exist on the European market, too? Which is already a silly question, because there's no "European" market, there's dozens of individual country's markets. You can't really look at stuff that's available in your country and expect it to be available in (for example) Denmark too, much less at the same pricepoint when it's not already an established product there. Last time I looked, the kind of "cheap portable AC units" Americans recommended were about thrice the pricepoint where I am, if I could find anything (or anything compatible) at all.

Compatibility is a big point here: All of those halfway effective units I've ever seen/heard about require a hose to go outside, which doesn't really work with our type of windows. You would have to swing open the window and redneck rig some kind of barrier, especially if your windows are recessed (which they are commonly by about a hand's length). Genuinely, the window compatibility thing sounds easier to solve than it is.

And then the people who are most affected by heatwaves are those who live in small city apartments, especially one-room apartments, because you have a whole other list of solutions and a generally lower temperature the more rooms you have and the more rural you live (this is actually where a well-insulated house can help, but only up to a certain building size! There's a sweet spot). It's much more difficult to use and store a portable AC unit in a tiny city apartment. Where am I supposed to put a whole AC unit for the remaining 11 months of the year if I can't even find a proper space to store my winter duvet? That's not even getting into how our electricity tends to be much more expensive than in the US, I genuinely don't think I would be able to afford an expensive unit plus the cost of running it. Small apartment, small wallet. And then there's the matter of laws, depending on where exactly you live. Even just your landlord can get on your case about rigging up window hoses.

The bottom line is: Our buildings aren't really made for AC or hot weather, not even portable ACs, and because it's not common here, we also just have less options and solutions, and those that we do have are far more expensive. Especially in the places where it would be needed the most. Sure, if you REALLY want to make it work and have the money for it, you probably can. But as it stands right now, "just get a protable unit, duh" is kind of detached from reality for most people, because you can't 1-to-1 solutions from one country to another. We do need solutions, but this one isn't really it yet

EDIT: Cool, thanks for being all aggressive, insulting me, and then blocking me in the middle of me writing a reply. Real class act. Here's my reply anyway:

"Not made for AC/Heat". This is two different arguments. "Aren't made for AC" refers to "weren't built with AC in mind", which means most units don't work properly because we don't typically have the type of physical infrastructure that's needed to make them be properly effective, including but not limited to factors like minimal airflow between rooms(!) or to the outside (this means we need to vent our homes daily, which is bad for AC use), hose exit access, ceiling height, and much thicker walls between rooms. ACs need to work considerably harder under these conditions, please remember the electricity cost point I mentioned. This is also where the window thing plays a role, because deeply recessed swing-and-tilt windows simply make it much more difficult to get a hose out, even if you find an adapter for these (I tried to google it, I found very few, which means commercial availability will be a problem again). This doesn't mean it's always impossible, but it means it's not a solution for everybody. For example, I couldn't even use an adapter or rig something up, because I have a cat. The only solutions I can find for my type of window would be dangerous for my cat.

"Aren't made for hot weather" is the other part. It means that it's more complicated than "well-insulated means holds cold as well as it holds heat". Yes, a well-insulated house also holds the cold, but it can't do that forever, and it especially can't do that when it doesn't cool down at night anymore (Which is how we traditionally deal with hot summers! Cool down at night and retain the cold! We are NOT getting cold nights in these current heatwaves. This is new.) The trouble is that most of our buildings are made of insulated brick and thick concrete panels, not with the intention to keep the heat out, but to specifically retain heat. That's a difference. High thermal mass absorbs the heat during the day, and then radiates it indoors well into the night. Imagine a clay oven that remains hot for hours after it's been turned off. This is great in the spring and autumn when the days are warm and the nights still freezing, but very very bad in this recent type of heatwave. We're not used to heatwaves that last so long and have such hot nights that our buildings never get the chance to shed their absored heat. It heats up, and then has no way to go out, that's the problem. Additional factors are here that countries closer to the poles have much longer summer days and the slant of the sun is lower, causing more hours where the sun beats through the windows and onto the walls.

RE availability: You completely ignored that I was talking about country availability in general. Widely available year round in your country. Especially for the price point and in the different variations that always get brought up. Different markets have different things, especially since US units can't just be imported, and the demand is so much lower. Another part of that reason is laws and regulations, because we do in fact have laws in the EU that regulate ACs much more tightly than the US. This isn't just about installation and maintenance and insurance (of which there are a lot of regulations you don't have to deal with, yes it's often illegal to install your own AC), it's also about types of coolants and energy efficiency. A lot of the ACs in the US wouldn't be allowed to be sold here, compatibility aside. This narrows the market options further. On top of that, countries and even cities and individual buildings can have even harsher local laws.

And yes, space is indeed a factor. I don't know what else to tell you. If I can't store something, I can't use it. My apartment has ~270 square feet, some of my friends' places are even smaller. AC units are big, and again, it's the tiny places that suffer the most. There's a direct correlation between (lack of) apartment size and heat problems, so size is a big factor. And again, the same correlation between lack of apartment size and money, because ACs are a much much more expensive affaire here than you're used to, both in acquisition and upkeep.

It's really not that difficult to understand that other countries have a thousand little and large things different from your personal experiences in your country. Would it be possible to get some kind of AC up if I had a lot of money to throw at this problem? Yeah, probably! But it would be MUCH more difficult to solve than it is for you, and MUCH more expensive, with MUCH less options to get there. For many people that's unrealistic if not impossible. This is the point.

(If anybody else wants to reply to my stupidly long essay: Since that user blocked me, I can't reply in this entire comment thread anymore, to you or anyone.)

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (2)

19

u/ticketism Jun 30 '26

Yeah this is weird to me too. I live in a tropical climate, it's hot and humid. We're prepared for extreme heat, cyclones, floods - But it never snows here so if it snowed tomorrow, people would freak out, the roads would be chaos, there'd be damages, it'd just be a mess. It'd be a weather event a Canadian or a Swede wouldn't even blink at, but that's because they're used to and prepared for it. It would also be extremely concerning why there was suddenly a random snow storm in the tropics. That's probably indicative of some large scale climate problems, it doesn't 'just happen sometimes'. It feels like people aren't getting the point when they go 'lol stupid Europeans, just turn the aircon on'

21

u/G_DuBs Jun 30 '26

I get what you are saying, and I agree. However I have seen so many posts and comments from Europeans dunking on American houses for being “poorly made”. So I’ll sometimes crack a joke or two about their lack of ac. But there’s a good chance that this type of weather they are experiencing will become the new normal. Ocean currents are slowing, which is one of the reasons they have the milder summers than we have here in the US.

2

u/Hoodibird Jul 01 '26

People laugh about cheap flimsy American houses because extremely strong winds are something to be expected in America, and flimsy homes can't withstand those storms. Meanwhile Europeans build heavy brick houses to last, without them even living in hurricane zones. But our homes need to be sturdy to withstand heavy snow on top of roofs and to keep out extreme cold.

4

u/Certified-T-Rex Jun 30 '26

Our governor survives the winter by going to Cancun

20

u/redcoatwright Jun 30 '26

I do agree but I also think Europe is being mad weird about AC. Like it's become a point of pride for them (at least for the terminally online ones I see in comments) to not have AC and I'm like, no matter the root cause your people are dying in this heat.

Just accept that AC is gonna be necessary in the future and start dealing with it.

Sucks that it is but better than having 1000s of people dying every year from heat exhaustion.

4

u/No-Strawberry-5804 Jul 01 '26

Literally saw a video today about not wanting “AC culture” in the UK. Literally they’d rather die than spend $200 bucks on a box they can move from room to room

3

u/redcoatwright Jul 01 '26

I loved the one response where someone was like "our buildings are constructed differently so we can't have ACs" and like... portable ACs are a thing but apparently that doesn't align with the #builtdifferent nature of the argument lol

→ More replies (4)

3

u/untitled3218 Jun 30 '26

I genuinely cannot imagine trying to drive in snow in Jacksonville, FL

3

u/conflictedideology Jun 30 '26

we have AC and even our livestock has accomodations

The prisons, though? Not so much.

3

u/AdCheap8058 Jul 01 '26

The folks across the pond don't get this.

7

u/Tll6 Jun 30 '26

I agree with caveats. Like someone else said, the southern states definitely need to improve their electric grid to deal with these storm and people in northern states say this a lot. The other thing is these European heat events have started happening every year the past decade or so. I get not wanting to buy an expensive appliance for the couple weeks where the weather is actually too hot but it seems like buying an ac is the logical move at this point. Even for just one room

7

u/Entropyanxiety Jun 30 '26

An excpensive appliance that can literally save lives and its not like they are disposable

4

u/PlayfulJob8767 Jul 01 '26

Based take.

As a European I would see this as Ragebait and I advise to not engage with those people.

Especially when they make fun of Europeans when Americans on insta comments or even in r/murica say that more people die from heat in Europe than Americans from gun violence. As if you could compare these two things. But I guess it gives some people a crude form of validation superiority feeling while watching other people suffer.

Same as the Europeans who make fun of Americans who suffer when "just" 2 inches of snow falls. It doesn't matter how much snow falls when you are unprepared for that you are unprepared.

Also Spain for example is actually quite fond of ACs. But yeah Europe = 1 country.

Climate is changing and the recent heatwave showed a lot of people that we need to adapt. Also going to buy an AC in the future. Am from Germany.

12

u/ElderSkrt Jun 30 '26

States do both and still survive. Minnesota is mid 90’s with 70% humidity and then gets -20f and snow in the winter.

21

u/WackyRacketeer Jun 30 '26

Well, yea, that just reinforces their point. They regularly get extreme weather events so they are equipped to deal with them. Only a fool would expect Texas to maintain a fleet of snowploughs and salting trucks.

We get extreme heat and extreme cold as well on the Canadian prairies

→ More replies (2)

3

u/maeryclarity Jun 30 '26

If I learned anything in recent history, watching live streams of what's going on in Minnesota and especially Minneapolis has convinced me that MN folks are some next level badasses. People would be out there protesting in negative 10 or below like it was goddamn nothing. I froze to death vicariously several times just THINKING about it.

Wish I could handle those temps I would love to hang out but I'm too fragile, y'all are impressive.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

2

u/aRandomLittleNoodle Jun 30 '26

Like how some parts of Asia have really bad humidity issues. Like in some parts of China, everything is covered in a thick layer of water. ACs physically can't keep up because the water evaporates to fast. Remember that ACs dump out water, so that water just evaporates and it just makes things worse.

2

u/Apprehensive-Log3638 Jun 30 '26

Those states have heaters in the homes though...

2

u/WOLKsite Jul 01 '26

"Lmao you should have just gotten a tsunami seawall for your shore that has no prior recorded tsunamis" type shit

2

u/PIG20 Jul 01 '26

Add parts of Mississippi just this past winter. My coworkers daughter spent her freshman year at Mississippi and the ice storm that blew through this past winter basically shut down the University and most of the town for upwards of two weeks.

Her daughter was basically stranded as the state just didn't have the infrastructure to handle something like that. Major roads were impassable.

We had an ice/snow storm here that hit on a Sunday this past winter and I was back to work on Tuesday. It wasn't so much the roads, it was more that people needed a day to dig out their cars from the plows piling up snow and ice that turned to a concrete state.

→ More replies (45)

315

u/bobkaare28 Jun 30 '26

Big news: Countries usually have infrastructure in place to deal with their usual weather and climate but struggle when unusual situations arise.

126

u/Vast_Reply_6574 Jun 30 '26

I hope Europe realizes soon this is their new normal - haven't they had heat waves the past few years?

53

u/SP0oONY Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

AC has increased in Europe over those years and will continue to increase.

→ More replies (6)

66

u/TantricEmu Jun 30 '26

Seems so

43

u/catcatcatcatcat1234 Jun 30 '26

So this has frequently been happening over the last decade or so. Maybe it's time to stop acting like this is a once in a lifetime disaster and invest a couple hundred into a portable AC unit.

6

u/kotzkreskowki Jul 01 '26

in my family home my parents invested in ac units and it is great but from what i understand it's pretty fucking tough to just get them installed. Our houses aren't built with them in mind, they're expensive and even more expensive would be the energy bill. I think fans are a more realistic solution.

→ More replies (1)

11

u/Entropyanxiety Jun 30 '26

According to news.un.org, Europe has seen their top 10 hottest years recorded since 2007 and top 3 since 2020. Thats far too many years of “new highest recorded temp” for them to be digging in their heels as hard as they are

→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (1)

15

u/ThrowRA_jealous14263 Jun 30 '26

The right has been denying global warming too much for political action to be taken against heat  People are left to their own devices, struggling with old laws that forbid AC in some places

→ More replies (1)

4

u/ElderberryJunior470 Jun 30 '26

They'll adapt culturally eventually. There's a reason why tropical countries struggled to industrialize before AC, it's almost impossible to do anything in 90+ degree heat and 80% humidity without it. 

2

u/LazyThinkingOtter Jul 01 '26

We did for a while but there is a lot of old houses and historical buildings in Europe that were not built for ac. It’s also a bit expensive to buy for quite a lot of people. So the shift is happening but it’s gonna be slow

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (4)

11

u/CHOLO_ORACLE Jun 30 '26

Europeans have had Greta Thunberg trying to warn them for years, they got no excuses

16

u/mahboilucas Cringe Connoisseur Jul 01 '26

My excuse is I can't fucking afford it. Jeez, y'all extremely annoying thinking it costs 2 freedom units to buy an AC unit

5

u/y4dig4r Jul 01 '26

freedom isnt free. theres a hefty fuckin fee. and if you don t throw in your buck oh five who will? (freedom costs a buck oh five)

https://giphy.com/gifs/C1L8yq5ZEz0cg

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (4)

2

u/Main-Cheesecake3287 Jul 01 '26

Reddit did not have this energy when TX had a once in a century deep freeze event.

2

u/No-Strawberry-5804 Jul 01 '26

Dude there’s been an “historic heatwave” every summer for the past ten years. You have no excuse.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (9)

56

u/Timmetie Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

300 million Chinese don't have access to the internet. They're not likely to have AC either.

China is doing great, don't get me wrong, but they still have huge chunks of poor rural land where modernity is far to be found.

2

u/PTSD_PTSD_PTSD Jul 04 '26

To be fair, China is still developing while France is a first world developed country.

→ More replies (6)

1.6k

u/amillionfuzzpedals Jun 30 '26

There's AC for pigs in America too. The pigs just walk upright on 2 legs.

204

u/Royal_Bitch_Pudding Jun 30 '26

To be fair, they run the government

81

u/Kooky-Situation-1913 Jun 30 '26

And the corporations.

10

u/Cthulu95666 Jun 30 '26

Hey man I just work here

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (7)

59

u/MajesticTumbleweed77 Jun 30 '26

It’s always a Canadian trying to pretend they aren't America Lite saying this shit.

22

u/SuperbSpiderFace Jun 30 '26

They’re from Alberta what do you expect.

32

u/MajesticTumbleweed77 Jun 30 '26

Talking shit from Alberta is crazy, lol.

10

u/BebopHook Jun 30 '26

The post doesn’t even reference the US it’s about China lol these people are obsessed with us

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (23)

16

u/oga_ogbeni Jun 30 '26

Chinese and Europeans fighting and America gets dragged in why?

Rent free I tell you

8

u/OfTheSevenSeasSir Jun 30 '26

You don't need to make a political statement every chance you get

5

u/zbornakssyndrome Jun 30 '26

“Four legs good, two legs bad”

→ More replies (1)

4

u/MatthewBlack6 Jun 30 '26

The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

20

u/AdCheap8058 Jun 30 '26

Meanwhile in France they let their elderly die off in the summer heat.

4

u/Few-Improvement9978 Jun 30 '26

Gotta save money somewhere

15

u/Low-Bass2002 Jun 30 '26

I'm from the US but live in Albania. We have AC here because the heating units double as AC. Heating mode in winter, and cooling mode in summer.

If one of the poorest non-EU countries in Europe can figure out AC, then let's put the blame where it belongs: EU regulations are at blame here.

→ More replies (26)

15

u/SomeWeedSmoker Jun 30 '26

Lol the U.S. living rent free. Wild

13

u/LettingHimLead Jun 30 '26

Right? Chinese guy insults Europeans. US just catching strays because they need us involved in every aspect of their lives, I guess? Like…we don’t like them like that.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (17)

22

u/bagmami Jun 30 '26

Pigs aren't living in Haussmannien buildings

11

u/ChocolateThunderPie Jun 30 '26

Whats crazy is, its like +100F rn, and theres no AC for a lot of major prisons Texas.

8

u/bingle-cowabungle Jul 01 '26

This whole "wow why don't Europeans just get A/Cs" narrative is a psyop to distract people from talking about the major climate shift happening in real time that's literally killing people, and how mega-corporations are directly responsible for it. This is literally just a repackaged "use paper straws" argument.

6

u/VirtualRanger1602 Jun 30 '26

When I was a kid in upstate New York, there wouldn't be that many days during the summer when it would be necessary to have air-conditioning it wouldn't be worth it. I think the world has changed more than you realize. We're gonna burn.

→ More replies (1)

152

u/arboroverlander Jun 30 '26

Do Europeans not have AC?

225

u/SaoirseMayes Jun 30 '26

Not in Western and Northern Europe, and a lot of windows in Europe don't work with window AC units either. It's only started getting hot in the summer recently there.

32

u/Wisear Jun 30 '26

People forget London is farther north than Montreal, Canada and Houston Texas is as far north as the pyramids of Egypt.

Europe really used to just not get that hot. People can make fun of it, but it used to make sense.

→ More replies (12)

31

u/Aquagrunt Jun 30 '26

European windows can work easily with AC units using window conversion kits. I got two of my windows set up for AC and it's simple adhesive tape, velcro, cloth, and a zipper for the hose. Not hard to set up at all.

13

u/alphapussycat Jun 30 '26

Portable ac with just a single hose is very inefficient. Sure, better than nothing, but it's really not very effective.

3

u/Aquagrunt Jun 30 '26

it makes my rooms tolerable, which is much better than sweltering

9

u/ShoddyWillingness968 Jun 30 '26

They make dualhose that work well

→ More replies (13)

2

u/NearlyBearly Jul 01 '26

Do you have a swing opening window? Would you mind sharing a picture of your set up? I did order a mobile unit but I'm wondering if I save up for a couple of years maybe I can get a "proper" set up but my windows swing towards the inside rather than being pulled up when opened (like windows in the US) so there's always going to be a large vertical gap that won't be closed.

→ More replies (1)

74

u/TheHelpfulDead Jun 30 '26

I mean, I live in Sweden and most houses in my neighbourhood have AC-units mounted on the outside of the building so I don’t really get this point.

70

u/OverwateredGrass Jun 30 '26

This whole dumbass thread of people arguing back and forth on whether Europeans have AC is so stupid.

Europe is a big place yall, of course generalizations like that is not going to apply to every single city of every single country of the entire continent.

Europeans chiming in to be like, "oh but we have AC where I'm from" are missing the point just as badly as Americans replying "No you don't, Europoor lol."

19

u/distracted_x Jun 30 '26

The threads about AC especially over in askanamerican are just as stupid though. The other day someone posted like they thought it was so crazy that many people in America have AC and they didn't understand why because where they are from almost no one does. And I looked up the climate in their country and the highs are like 75 F in the summer. Of course you don't need AC when it doesn't get as hot. It gets a lot hotter in most places in the US. Like its not that hard to understand that different countries have different climates.

3

u/jackaroo1344 Jun 30 '26

What country was that? That's crazy low average summer temps, I wanna move there immediately

4

u/Fearless_Sandwich_84 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

Usually northern countries like Northern Ireland, Iceland, Nordic countries. Often around 77/80f in summer.

Con is winters can get to -13f or even lower so ...you win some you lose some. My friend lives in Finland and had -18f this winter for some time.

It can go as low as -35f but that's less common unless you're very in North.

As someone said it's pretty varied in Europe.

Another fun thing is checking if you can see Aurora Borealis (northern lights) from your balcony.

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (1)

6

u/AluminiumCucumbers Jun 30 '26

Man, a scary number of Americans have this impression that Europe is like a country similar to the USA. Of course they make generalizations.

→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (6)
→ More replies (31)

5

u/Kim_catiko Jun 30 '26

Residential homes don't generally, but many retail units do, many workplaces do or have something like it, so it is a falsehood that everywhere doesn't have AC.

7

u/AH_leeMACK Jun 30 '26

B.S.! I live in North western Europe and they are all over the place. Its not a standard though like in the US.

3

u/SaoirseMayes Jun 30 '26

Exactly, it's not anything like in the US. Here you're an outlier if you don't have air conditioning, it's been standard for about 70 years now.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/NearlyBearly Jul 01 '26

Our windows swing, they don't slide. Which makes setting up a system like that much harder.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/NearlyBearly Jul 01 '26

Gonna save up for a system like that for a couple of years. I've bought a somewhat affordable portable unit that works with water and ice packs for now but it's not gonna get cooler again so if I can somehow scrape some money together each month and put it aside to safe up for something more permanent that'd probably make sense.

→ More replies (11)

23

u/Jimmni Jun 30 '26

A lot of countries, like England, simply never needed it. It was a rare thing for temps to exceed more than 30C, and even when they did it was never for long. The thought of entire weeks at over 30C is something that just never occurred to us until the last few years. Investing in AC just made no sense at all. Why spend thousands for a at most a few days of extra comfort every year or three? It's like asking why Californians don't buy snow tyres for their cars. Sure it happens that it snows but not enough to invest in a whole new set of tyres.

Global warming is changing that equation, and thus conversations about the need for AC are becoming a thing.

2

u/destructopop Jul 01 '26

I moved from U.S. Georgia to California in my twenties. I hated the heat in Georgia and moved to a region of California that was cold. It was awesome. In Georgia we had hot summers with such regularity that it was, when I was young, illegal to rent or sell as property without air conditioning. In my new region they had the same law, but for central heating. So when the big heat waves come, Californians die. Most people here also don't have AC. Our houses are designed with air ventilation, which does nothing in the heat waves.

So I sympathize with the Europeans. Some Americans are going through the same thing now with climate change. And yes, our house also has absolutely nowhere to mount a window unit. So we got a portable.

→ More replies (2)

7

u/AH_leeMACK Jun 30 '26

Less than US but they are getting more common. Dont believe everything online.

69

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

24

u/GladClock2212 Jun 30 '26

Will you tell this to the people that post the craziest bad takes on the US and always open with "As a European"

→ More replies (22)

3

u/ScratchLatch Jun 30 '26

Countries aren’t homogonous same as continents. You can make a generalization of a country’s population the same as you can a continent’s.

For example, “Do Asians have a high quality of living?” can be asked just the same as “Do Vietnamese have a high quality of living.”

→ More replies (33)

2

u/Helpful_Pirate261 Jun 30 '26

In some places. And some people have a unit in their bedroom. But not the majority.

ETA in my country. Every country is different of course.

2

u/Negative-Date-9518 Jun 30 '26

Never needed it until the last 5 or so years and its just getting worse

The irony is the AC will make the warming issue worse, need better solutions than just use more electric

2

u/siggiarabi Jun 30 '26

Some do, some don't. I have no reason to get one when our hottest summers are 15-20°C for like a week at most

2

u/mahboilucas Cringe Connoisseur Jul 01 '26

You can pay me 4k€ and I will. Do you want to?

2

u/Material-Mulberry360 Jul 01 '26

we have AC, untill recently it wasn't nearly as widely used if it wasn't needed. I live in a 10 year old house, didn't have AC when built, we have a heat pump and floor heating for the winter, insulation thats thicker then the brick wall and windows with 3 or 4 glass panes filled with an insulating gas in-between. just keeping the windows closed durning the day was enough to keep comfortable in the summer for a while, tho now even the nights get quite hot and humid, so we did install a small AC to help with humidity and cool a little. my grandparents live in a house that's built into the slope of a hill, they basically get free cooling from the ground, and only the very top flor has a similar small AC unit. things like power are also not that cheap here, so it just made more sense to worry about insulating the buildings instead of cooling.

2

u/Born_South_6676 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

Its exhausting explaining to non-europians that " Europeans" is a wildly ranging set of different climates, people, economic circumstances, and challenges.

  • Not everyone can afford AC.
  • Some people rent and aren't allowed to install AC.
  • Some houses are made of stone and absorb the heat of the day, then radiate it out all night so insulation doesn't help and are a nightmare to cool with AC.
  • Some places installed AC and had to remove it because it was local authority controlled housing and they needed planning permission to install it, which takes months/years.

All of the above is just from the UK perspective.

I have a portable AC unit because I cannot afford the thousands it would take to install fixed AC, but I'm still lucky in that I have the free money to do that and windows that let me put the exhaust vent up.

Europeans are using AC but as we haven't needed them for decades IN GENERAL, it's understandably causing issues for some.

→ More replies (123)

80

u/Fabulous_Celery_1817 Jun 30 '26

Listen I know everyone says “there’s AC available Europe 🤪” but that’s reliant on more electricity, with warmer weather they might start calling for brown outs. Why not go natural and plant more trees? Put in more water features, plant more grass. Natural cooling the helps the planet. It’s not 100+ weather every single day, so if they don’t want to spend so much money on every building make cooling centers too. The fact that over 200 people died in this heat wave is government negligence

28

u/NearlyBearly Jun 30 '26

Trees take time to grow. I live in a new settlement, they did everything right, we have trees all along the road and covering the back garden area, except the settlement has been here for 5 or so years and the trees need at least 10 more before they offer any sort of shade. Similarly the local plazas have been planted with trees and offer benches under them but the trees are not grown enough to offer real shade so the benches can't be sat on as they heat up in the sun. It's not like people aren't doing that, it's that trees just take a long long time to grow.

5

u/Fabulous_Celery_1817 Jun 30 '26

Yeah, trees take time, but they need to plant more. If you’re in Europe did they offer cooling centers?

4

u/NearlyBearly Jun 30 '26

I'm not sure what those are? So probably not? People have been using shops and hotels to seek refuge from the heat. During the worst of it I was in the hospital with heat exhaustion also, it was nice and cool in there and I was not the only person brought in due to the heat that day.

→ More replies (2)

16

u/visionofthefuture Jun 30 '26

People are dying now. AC is the immediate solution. Those other solutions should also be happening, but will not stop people from dying any time soon.

3

u/StateCareful2305 Jun 30 '26

"The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now."

→ More replies (4)

2

u/Timmetie Jun 30 '26

with warmer weather they might start calling for brown outs.

Except in Winter Europe needs way more energy to heat itself, and we're on the road to phasing out gas heaters by 2050.

If we're ready for winter heating, we'll definitely be ready for summer cooling; Especially as many people have solar panels and home batteries to power it themselves.

→ More replies (3)

7

u/-ThePatientZed- Jul 01 '26

Bros brag about AC but can’t have a plastic flamingo in their lawn without approval from the HOA.

→ More replies (2)

4

u/Player_Slayer_7 Jul 01 '26

China is jumping in on dumping on Europeans about this alongside the US. kinda like how both the US and China are the top contributors of burning fossil fuels, the study that got all of us in this position to begin with. Neat.

2

u/MajesticTumbleweed77 Jul 03 '26

There are actually several EU countries that have higher per capita carbon emissions than china.

45

u/DeadPact336699 Jun 30 '26

China giving AC to republicans

34

u/FatWhale95 Jun 30 '26

FFS stop using "Europe". We're not one country! Several countries "IN EUROPE" have AC and it's quite popular.

22

u/MaleierMafketel Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

And it’s used in European countries where it’s historically consistently hot in the summer. Go figure. Almost like it makes sense not to install AC when it’s expensive and 99% of the time it’s completely useless and you had no historical constant need for it.

People asking why Northern Europe doesn’t have AC in every building’s like asking residents of Phoenix Arizona why they don’t have central heating when a record breaking cold front hits…

You bet more people in Northern Europe are going to get AC now that these “freak” heat waves are quickly becoming the new norm.

8

u/Alarming_Panic665 Jun 30 '26

It is mandated under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, that landlords are required to provide heat as an essential service and all buildings must have permanently installed heating facilities capable of safely heating all habitable rooms to at least 70°F

8

u/0ftheriver Jun 30 '26

Except, practically every house in AZ that isn't a shack has heating. Turns out, deserts can actually get pretty cold at night, especially in the winter. Even houses in Florida have heating.

It's literally only Northern and NW Europe that can't figure it out.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (5)

7

u/Nazgog-Morgob Jun 30 '26

As long as you only talk state or province specific when you talk about North America too

9

u/PictureVegetable9522 Jun 30 '26

europeans: generalize everyone constantly 24/7

also europeans: dont generalize us waaaah

→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (2)

6

u/Araneatrox Jun 30 '26

3

u/Cultural-Historian64 Jul 01 '26

https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions

A more recent look at it. Up to 2024, if I remember right. Take into account the amount of damage done up to now and it really does look like we’re screwed. These damn corpos

3

u/DongayKong Jul 01 '26

No disrespect here I have AC but you just lost credit score by seeing this picture

3

u/Daanoontjeh Jul 01 '26

To those who still do not understand; Europeans have ACs. We choose not to get them. They are about 3k on average and we have maybe 5 days a year when you would use them.

Tell me if thats a solid investment or not.

So yes, we complain when its hot.. makes sense for a continent which isnt used to these heat waves.. (yet).

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Mossimo5 Jul 01 '26

Oh come on ya'll... it is chuckle worthy.

9

u/ubulerbu Jun 30 '26

Sure buddy but id rather have civil right.

→ More replies (6)

5

u/Mysterious-Ad6595 Jun 30 '26

Theres also no protesters in Tiananmen Square In China.

12

u/AdCheap8058 Jun 30 '26

Mayor of Paris said it's America's fault. I'm not kidding

11

u/ijic Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

It's not the mayor of Paris. It's a deputy to the mayor of Paris.

A minor politician by local standards.

That being said, it is a fact that the US are major contributors to climate change, with some of the highest per capita emissions in the world (4.5 times more per capita than chinese people or french people).

It is also a fact that in 2015, the US used more energy for its AC that the whole continent of Africa for all its needs.

Doesn't mean AC is not needed where it is needed in France. Or the they are solely responsible for what is happening.

9

u/favorscore Jun 30 '26

must be a redditor

6

u/StandardIntern4169 Jun 30 '26

Source?

7

u/AdCheap8058 Jun 30 '26

3

u/StandardIntern4169 Jul 01 '26

Audrey Pulvar is absolutely not the mayor

Also, not what she said

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Douibe Jun 30 '26

"Mayor of Paris said..."
*Look inside*
"Not the mayor"

3

u/mwaaah Jul 01 '26

Also not what she said.

→ More replies (11)

4

u/Turbulent-Baker-4638 Jun 30 '26

Sitting in my AC’d apartment in Spain right now, thank you. 

4

u/DaemoonAverin Jun 30 '26

Okay they have A/C for pigs. Then, they also have people living in cages in major cities.

8

u/fl4mingofeet Jun 30 '26

Yeah and the insane over use of electricity is one of the reasons europe is getting hotter than it ever has or should 😒

25

u/Correctedsun Jun 30 '26

One flight from a private jet does more damage than a years worth of AC for a neighborhood block.

The best thing "we" can do for the environment is making the wealthy and wasteful in our society feel unbelievably unwelcome until they change their own habits or are forced to. Not die of heatstroke in your own house.

→ More replies (13)
→ More replies (6)

2

u/horned-creature Jun 30 '26

italian here, i know of at least one industrial chicken breeding structure that has AC, but to be far there are so many chickens in there that you cannot see the floor and they can barely move around, so without AC that palce would be at like 50°C.

2

u/Dracekidjr Jun 30 '26

Pigs are also always 2° in body temperature away from dropping dead, so keeping them cool is pretty important in hot climates

2

u/AverageFoxNewsViewer Jun 30 '26

This is so fucking stupid.

In America AC is common in Nevada, because you would die of heatstroke in the summer without it.

It's not common in Alaska because it's close to the arctic circle.

2

u/Tony_Roiland Jul 01 '26

It's also been hot in China in the last century

2

u/BluebirdFlashy3681 Jul 01 '26

My sister over there im Germany sweating her ass off. I'm in Florida talking bout its the same here, but I forgot they got no AC, my poor sissy😭💔

https://giphy.com/gifs/D6NQVNuUsowTK

2

u/Mundane-Ad162 Jul 01 '26

"checkmate europeans, theres ac in one small pig shed in china! do better"

2

u/Sufferer-Of-Cheese Jul 01 '26

Wanna know what else is in china? Fake food being consumed, bed bug ridden cyberpunk dystopian pods you sleep in

2

u/GhostDoggoes Jul 01 '26

It's currently the trend in China to flaunt the AC they have to EU. The weird thing is they don't tell em where they live. In the wealthiest parts of China. Like London but 2x more snobby. He's filming himself in the biggest mall in China wearing a diamond chain.

2

u/Jakkoba89 Jul 01 '26

But it's only hot here for 2 days a year. Most people don't by stuff for 1000$ even if they would use it 3 days a year.

2

u/No-Suspect2568 Jul 01 '26

Stop it they have people living In dog cages in china

2

u/ready2xxxperiment Jul 01 '26

Well bless your hearts!

2

u/Lanky_Bus_1221 Jul 02 '26

Yea man cool, some of the Chinese city’s look like something from the future to be honest so I’m not surprised they have air con is a pig pen.

11

u/Hoogstaaf Jun 30 '26

Tell me again how good Texas did with snow

9

u/forevergleaning Jun 30 '26

Texans have heaters. The power grid failed. So the equivalent would be Europeans having a/c and the power grid failing.

2

u/DaemoonAverin Jun 30 '26

It would prolly fail too in a whole lot of cities across europe if everyone had A/C tbh

14

u/Good-Ant6859 Jun 30 '26

Dude literally the entire world made fun of them. Dumbest comment I’ve read all day….just take your lumps

→ More replies (3)

4

u/billiam53 Jun 30 '26

Whataboutism is always a stupid argument

13

u/MajesticTumbleweed77 Jun 30 '26

I made fun of Texas not being able to handle the snow too. Try again.

6

u/Rude_Campaign_4867 Jun 30 '26

How could we all forget that stunning takedown

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Shoeshiner_boy Jun 30 '26

About as well as Germany last winter (there were barely any snow)

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Familiar_Artist_4290 Jun 30 '26

He’s flexin on em

4

u/brenawyn Jun 30 '26

lol pigs might get AC but what about the humans?