My son has been obsessed with our air conditioners. We have two units, and they sit out in our backyard, next to the house, right where our almost-4-year-old autistic son can stand there and yell at them all day. Hey, they're noisy, so I guess he thinks he needs to be noisy right back.

Well, his obsession has moved beyond simply yelling at them and pounding on the sides. The other day, I watched him slowly, deliberately, and carefully draaaaag his picnic table across the patio, down the sidewalk, and all the way down the side of the house, and position it next to the air conditioner. Then he stood on top of it and peered down into the unit, laughing at the fan spinning around at eighty bazillion MPH. Or is it RPM? I have no idea.

Anyway, I'm freaking the hell out. As far as I'm concerned, he's only seconds away from sticking his finger through the grill and getting all of his digits amputated down to the first knuckle. His dad assures me that,

A. The fan is far enough down from the grill that his fingers won't reach it

and

B. The fan is spinning "backwards" - as in, it's pushing hot air up and out, not sucking air in, and therefore, the blades are facing whatever direction "backwards" is, so if he DID get his finger all the way in, it wouldn't be going the right way to make sushi out of his little toddler fingers.

Is that true?? Does anybody know? I tend to believe my husband, as he IS Mister Safety and all, but still...

Labels: AC, central air