A Farewell to Laps

I am an introvert, which is one of the reasons I gravitate to the "silent sports" of running, biking, and swimming. Not only that, but I don't enjoy having my workouts interrupted. So when Anne, the elderly woman I sometimes share a lane with at the pool, started up a conversation as I was swimming laps, I was initially peeved. (It was also a good reminder that I really need to learn those cool underwater flips when I switch directions. That way no one will mistakenly think that I'm making eye contact with them and thus welcoming a conversation.) I like Anne, though. She is sweet and sassy, a complimentary pair of characteristics for an older lady to have, in my opinion. Besides, the place I swim with is overrun with senior citizens and you definitely want to stay on their good side or they may gang up against you and then who knows what perils you may face. So I took off my goggles and gave her my best listening ear.

Anne informed me that the pool was changing it's hours of operation beginning in July. From then on, it will no longer be open Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now the pool I swim at is run by the city's parks and rec department. It cost $10 to join. Not $10 a month. $10 a YEAR. And that $10 gives you access to all the park and rec pools in the city as well as the community centers. My pool is ordinarily open six days a week. And now it will only be open for four. Not only that, but the days in which it is open will inevitably be more crowded as people are forced to adapt to the new schedule. There will be more sharing of lanes, more splashing, more geriatric folk. I might as well swim in the bay.

Now the reason for this calamity is due to the deflated economy and the trickle-down effect that it's having on states and cities across the nation. Our fair city and all those around us have been facing severe budget cuts--schools are laying off employees, police departments are cutting back, libraries are closing. And my pool will no longer be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Now really, how much is this going to save the city? There are at best two life guards on duty during lap swim and one in the office. How much are they paying those guards anyway? It can't be too much, or you'd think they'd take their jobs a little more seriously and use that time to actually pay attention to the swimmers rather than sleep in their chairs. Is it the cost of water that is a problem? Perhaps they should limit the time spent in the shower to three pushes of the button, rather than the unlimited number of pushes we take for granted now. Or maybe they should increase the ridiculously low park and rec fee to, I don't know, $15? $20? I'd be willing to pay more if it would help keep the pool doors open.

So Anne got me all worked up, which helps when you are exercising. Nothing like a little adrenaline to motivate you to go faster. But as I was swimming down my lane, a startling realization came to me. To my very limited knowledge, this pool closing is the most direct way I've been affected by the recession. My husband still has his job and actually just got a raise. The neighborhood isn't being hit by waves of crime now that there are fewer police on the beat. My children are not in school yet, so they don't have to worry about larger class sizes. My dad's hours were drastically cut at work, but they've bounced back now and to my knowledge he and my mom are doing well. Obviously there are probably many ways I've been affected that just aren't as overt, but I have to be honest: my family has been extremely blessed. Again. Thank you, God, for the comfortable life we live.

By the way, Anne will be fine, too. She's a retired senior with all the time in the world to go to the pool across town, which she does now anyway. She just wanted me to know.