A: I think the air conditioner’s on the blink. It doesn’t turn on when I push the button. What are we going to do?
B: We’ve had this air conditioner for years. Let’s just get a new one. We could buy one with a heater function.
A: Heater? Are you pulling my leg?
Photo: Pan Tzu-chiang, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報記者潘自強
B: A lot of people do the same thing: They buy an air conditioner in the summer when it’s scorching hot, and they forget how cold it gets in winter, much to their regret when it gets cold.
A: That’s right. My brother-in-law is from the US, and he says that Taiwan is colder than any other country, because in the winter the temperature drops to under 10 degrees, but there’s no interior heating.
B: It’s not cold in Taiwan for a long time over the year, but for those few days when we have a cold front, having a heater is worth every cent you spent on it.
A: 怎麼辦，冷氣機好像壞了，按開關都沒反應！
B: 這冷氣機也用了好多年了，乾脆換新的好了。買個有暖氣功能的。
A: 暖氣？你在開玩笑嗎？
B: 大部分的人就是跟你一樣，買冷氣機的時候都在夏天，熱得要命，所以都忘記冬天會有多冷，到時才後悔！
A: 啊對，我姐夫從美國來，說台灣是世界上最冷的國家，因為冬天十度以下，室內卻沒有暖氣。
B: 雖然一年當中台灣冷的時間不長，但是寒流來的那幾天有暖氣可以用，就值回票價了。
（Translated by Paul Cooper, Taipei Times／台北時報林俐凱）
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