Remote

 

In the initial stage of Alzheimer’s disease, the patient tends to lose items. My mother did. Among the items that caused trouble were air conditioners’ remote controls.

In the winter, we used a gas heater with a fan. It didn’t have a remote. So there was no problem. But in the summer, we used air conditioners with remotes. My mother repeatedly lost the remotes. That was a problem. When she lost her bankbook, a complicated procedure was necessary for its reissuing. But the banks didn’t ask us for too much money. It cost about 10 dollars. The air conditioners’ remotes were a different story.

These days, some companies sell economic remotes that can be used for all kinds of air conditioners. In those days, however, I had to call the air conditioner manufacturer to request a new remote. Then they would send it to us. It cost about 200 dollars.

Every time my mother lost a remote, we had to pay 200 dollars. Then, during the two or three days it took for the new remote to arrive, we had to endure the hot summer without the air conditioner. Alternatively, we couldn’t turn off the air conditioner, resulting in an expensive electric bill.

My solution was the same as the one I adopted when my mother lost her bankbooks: We would have two remotes for every air conditioner, and I would keep one of them. When my mother insisted she’d lost her remotes, I just used my hidden remote, saying, “I’ve found it.” When she lost her bankbook, an elaborate charade was necessary. I had to pretend to look for the bankbook. Then I would put a new one somewhere and let her find it because I didn’t want her to suspect me. In the case of the remotes, the charade wasn’t necessary. My mother would never suspect that I was interested in them. She had Alzheimer’s disease, but she was not crazy.

Now I can buy a remote online for almost all air-conditioner makes with less than 10 dollars. I wish that had been possible when I was taking care of my mother. It would have been easy and economic.

By the way, “Summer Time Machine Blues” is a Japanese theatrical play. It was also made into a movie. The theatrical masterpiece was released in 2001. It’s a great science fiction comedy about some people looking for an air-conditioner remote using a time machine. If we’d had economic remotes when it was released, the story wouldn’t have made sense.

I am glad for contemporary convenience. But too many convenient tools could take the drama out of our lives.

Picture by Sato