I'm
at the gym today and make my way to the pool to swim some laps. When I walk into the pool area, there's one
other dude that I can see, and he's on the side of the pool busy getting ready
to swim a few hundred miles - I could tell by the swim cap he was wearing that
he was serious about all of this.
I
get into the pool with my back to the other end of the lane in which I'm about
to swim and do some stretching (so I can look like I know what I'm doing – I can’t
have a dude in a swim cap mocking me either).
Just as I turned around to face the opposite end of the pool and affix
my goggles, this other guy comes from out of nowhere and plops himself into the
pool at the other end of THE VERY LANE IN WHICH I’M GETTING READY TO SWIM. I’m wearing goggles for Pete’s sake! How do I NOT look like I’m about to swim
here?
Mind
you, there’s no one else in the entire pool – there are four lanes
for the taking, and Swim Cap McHundredmiles has yet to wade into one of the
lanes. The interloper at the other end
of the pool could have jumped into any one of the other three lanes, but he
chose mine.
Now,
I’ve seen something similar to this before.
The lane in which I’m getting ready to swim is closest to the Jacuzzi,
and there’s a ladder in the pool in my lane next to the Jacuzzi. I’ve seen people pop out of the Jacuzzi and
jump into the pool to cool off and then quickly exit the pool again via the
ladder – I thought this was what Mr. Personal Space Invader was attempting, so
I stood my ground and waited for him to exit the pool. But he didn’t. He proceeded to jump from foot to foot all
the while staring at me from his end of MY LANE!
I
kept staring at him, wondering when he was going to finish his little exercise
jig and depart. Swim Cap turned around
and noticed what was happening and looked at me. I looked at him and said, “You can see me,
right? I’m not invisible, am I?” At this point, I had a decision to make –
which of the four options do I exercise:
1. Engage the dude at the other end of the pool in a game of Marco Polo?
2. Stealthily sidle up and pants him?
3. Get out of the pool, run along the side, and cannonball him?
4. See if he's ticklish?
What would you have done? Let's take a poll, and then I'll tell you what I did.
1. Engage the dude at the other end of the pool in a game of Marco Polo?
2. Stealthily sidle up and pants him?
3. Get out of the pool, run along the side, and cannonball him?
4. See if he's ticklish?
What would you have done? Let's take a poll, and then I'll tell you what I did.
