Day at the Pool

Last Friday, Doreen (whom you know) and I decided to be brave. We decided to haul our kids, 5 in total, to the swimming pool. There is a rather nice one about 30 minutes from Poznan called Wodny Raj (Water Paradise). Before hand, we had to get our boys the dreaded SPEEDO! Yes, a SPEEDO. Here in Poland, as in probably (I've never checked) every other European country, those of the male persuasion must be in a speedo to enter a swimming pool. They even have designated posters showing what is appropriate and what is not.

This has always perplexed me considering that in all the stores, there are swimming trunks of all varieties to be purchased. Just don't try to wear them in a pool, for heaven's sake. They call them "walking shorts" for some reason.

So, Friday morning, Doreen and I packed up the car, speedos and all, and headed out. A car full of overly excited kids and two already exhausted moms. We made it to the pool, took off our outside shoes and gave them to the check-in guy and proceeded to the cashier. After paying, we took our stuff into the locker rooms, got changed and headed to the pool.

The kids had a blast. We went down the slide, swam in the lap pool, got run into in the kiddie pool and just had a great time together. Mid-way through our adventure, Doreen and I noticed an older man, about 60, in SWIMMING TRUNKS! Man, I thought, maybe they have changed the rules and Michael can actually go to the pool with us. Not 5 minutes later, a younger guys, around 20, entered the swimming area also in trunks and, as if someone come in with a bomb strapped to themselves, the lifeguards began frantically blowing their whistles! Code red, code red! Swimming trunks sighting! The young man was reprimanded and told he had to change those despicable, unsanitary, shorts or he was not going to be allowed to swim. I guess the older guy was, well, older and therefore had the right to wear swimming trunks. Like the older neighbor that came to our house, this man has obviously earned the right to do what he pleases.

I have asked the rule makers at the pool why trunks are not allowed. They promptly told me that someone could come in and try to swim in regular shorts that look like trunks and that it is completely unsanitary. How much more unsanitary can you get than 100 overweight guys swimming in their underwear????