He's lucky; he doesn't take after me!

When I mention that I go "to the pool," I hope you don't think that I swim laps or anything like that, because I don't. In the days when it was required, I failed every swimming test I ever took. The one exception was in junior high, where there was a pool, and we were supposed to do at least 15 lengths of each stroke. I started with the "elementary back stroke," which is the "breast stroke" on the back. It's pretty easy and relaxing. It took me the entire lesson, and after I staggered out of the pool, I was sent to the "nurse's office" and never asked to complete the test.

In every camp or pool I was the eternal "advanced beginner." That meant that in theory I knew the strokes, but I couldn't go very far with them. It wasn't that I was afraid of the water, not at all. I even learned how to dive, something I haven't done in decades, since the thought of walking the plank terrifies me. My routine is to start my "pool time" with a jump into the deepest water.

Nobody else in my family, neither my parents, siblings nor kids seem to suffer from my swimming disability. Thank G-d. A perfect example is my son the "plumber's apprentice," who's also taking a swimming instructors course. He decided to widen his repertoire by taking a life guard course. That requires a swimming test. Let's suffice to say that without any speed practice or other training, he successfully swam in well under the required time and swam under water well over the minimum.

Lucky boy that he doesn't take after me.