The Life Aquatic :: You Just Never Know

I fully admit that working in pools is not my dream job. It's not where I want to retire...not that I should really be thinking of retiring. We'll call that a distant dream...but I still don't want to grow old working in pools. Truthfully, working in pools sometimes makes me a little crazy, a little depressed and a lot frustrated.

It's not like on T.V. I promise. Sometimes it's really boring and, if it isn't, it probably would be better if it were. I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a first responder. But that's rare. It's the day to day that gets to me. There's a lot of crabby people, cleaning toilets (and walls. How does it get on the walls?!), scrubbing floors, making change, registering for programs (and helping find the right ones), washing windows, directing "traffic," playing referee, handing out bandaids and wiping bloody noses, filling out copious amounts of redundant paperwork, inventory lists, mopping floors, ignorant people that think the rules don't apply to them, educating (or trying to) about water safety...and just plain common sense, and a lot of watching people swim back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

The only way I know to stay sane is to laugh and be thankful - noting the positives - and so we share stories. With each other. With our families. Oh the stories. And so I think I'll share the stories. Record them, as best I can, to save my sanity...or what's left of it.

Stories like this one from earlier this week. Four, maybe five, years ago, I taught months worth of private lessons to a little boy. He was petrified of the water. Honestly, we spent the first lesson just working up the courage to get into the water. And he did. One lesson at a time he improved. He got braver. He faced his fears and found some new skills. And he became a cute little friend. His mom and his little sister would come to watch and they too became friends. Eventually it was time for him to move on. I haven't seen him in years. On Tuesday, working a different shift at my new pool, guess who showed up for swim club. Competitive swim club. You got it. My little swimmer and his mom. He's taller and faster and swimming competitively, winning meets all across the province! And guess what? He remembered me. His mom and I had a nice little visit, catching up. She is still thanking me for the impact I had on her little boy years ago, setting him on the path, she says, to success and fitness. I guess it just goes to show that you never know the impact you have on people. You just never know.