Time For A Dip

Its 3:45 pm on a Sunday afternoon as the sound of rushing water, conversation and laughter fills the air. It’s a place for people to release, to look back on the week that was and get ready for the next. People are in all corners of the facility and with alcohol and company a good time is sure to be had. Everyone in their own little groups but all with the same purpose. They are here to relax, these college aged kids are here to enjoy the water and an ice cold beer.

The array of cultures is heavily present with the sound of multiple languages being heard. The fountain is the center of it all, standing alone in the middle of the pool, it acts as the centerpiece. The interesting this about the pool I that it isn't occupied as it is intended. The pool is there for people to swim and enjoy the water, but what the pool has become is merely a place to sunbathe and hang out in chairs above water level. It seems that even though people made the journey to the pool and dressed in bathing suites, they have no intention of actually swimming. They intend to lie out in the sun and let the ray form above burn their skin to a brown or red.

It seems as if good conversation and drinking has the replaced the act of swimming. To be fair there are a few people in the pool but not swimming, they are standing up wait deep drinking a beer. Another thing that seems quite unusual is that it is 95 degrees and more people are in the warm water of the spa opposed to the cool refreshing temperature of the main pool. Just an observation which is perplexing to me. The main thing is that everyone is enjoying themselves. It seems as if that people no longer associate the pool with swimming but with a good time. Even if they could do the same activities outside on their own patio, they still prefer to be in the confinement of the boundaries of the pool. It’s all mental. Mentally telling themselves while in the pool area that they are relaxed and that inside the boundaries is nothing but pure relaxation and enjoyment.

I've been here for close to an hour now and no one has left. Everyone who was here when I arrived is still present. As the alcohol slowly starts to kick in the conversations gradually get louder and the sound of the rushing water is slowly drowned out by increasing laughter and people start to care less and less about the other groups. Everyone still seems to be having a great time and I can safely conclude that the pool is a place to let things go. It seems no one has problems and no thinks about the challenges they have. It seems that in the four walls of the pool on Sunday afternoon these people are trying to enjoy the last bit of their weekend knowing that when they wake up tomorrow a new week at school will begin but they will have the thought of their pool visit to look back on and look forward to next weekend.