Boot Camp December 1979: It was pool day. Up at 4 am to get to chow at 4:30 am and then to the pool by 5:15 am. I marched behind 80+ women to the pool. It was early & cold & we were wearing our overcoats, sweaters, scarves & gloves. At the pool house we surrendered the warm clothing to an ancient woman with a German accent & a hair net. She passed out red swimsuits. She eyed you up & down & handed you a suit. Several folks before me had attempted unsuccessfully to get another size but she was not inclined to acquiesce. By the time I got mine all the size 8's were gone & I received a size 24. My shipmates tied knots in the thing so I could maintain some sense of dignity. Although maintaining any dignity wearing a swimsuit with large bulbous knots all over it seemed futile . I looked like a large red root of ginger. We marched outside - it was really, really cold & there was a dense layer of fog covering the pool. The fog combined with the first rays of sunlight gave the whole scene a strong resemblance to something out of a Fellini film. Any way we got up on the bleachers and sat waiting for further instructions. I was not really paying attention, consumed as I was by my bizarre attire & the freezing metal bleachers. What happened next still boggles my mind 30 years later. I heard "who wants to be the first in the pool". Did I mention the pool was heated? My body totally took control of the situation and the next thing I know my hand is in the air & the instructor is walking me to the 10 foot platform (no sweat I can jump 10 feet....duh!!) and then he looked straight up, 30 feet up in fact and says "off you go, remember to cross your legs at the ankles and keep your arms across your chest. When you come back to the surface wave so we'll know you're okay". So up the ladder I went, walked across the platform gave a thumbs up to the crowd below and stepped out into the abyss. It was quite like floating. I am sure the trip was quicker than I remember. Two thoughts came to mind - the pool is HEATED, that was the good thought and I wonder how much of my personal dignity would still be intact when I made contact with the water, that was the not so good thought. I do not remember being afraid at all but I do remember how wonderful it felt to be in the warm water. So good in fact I thought I would just stay in the pool awhile.......it was firmly explained to me that staying was not an option. So out of the pool I got, shivering uncontrollably. As I approached the cold metal bleachers a distant memory floated across the back of my mind - the one where my wet hand got stuck to the wall of the freezer when I was 9. It was a fleeting memory & was quickly dismissed as I was noticing that my swimsuit was beginning to feel really snug....... I sat on the bleachers, my cold wet butt met the even colder dry metal bench and they bonded....literally!!! I hoped that getting off the bleacher did not include leaving a parting gift of half my butt!! HAZMAT Note: Butt freezes before bleacher. It did, 'nough said. I got to go back into the pool & this time I was allowed to stay in the warm water as long as I did not touch the bottom or side of the pool. I knew something that the instructor did not know, actually 2 things - I am not left handed & when I was 11 I spent a summer in Florida with my Sisters family and one of the ladies who lived in the apartment complex had been a Weeki Watchee Mermaid. She had some trouble moving about on Terra firma but she was amazing in the water. She took great pleasure in teaching the little ones in the complex Mermaid routines which included how to stay afloat with little effort. I was the last out of the pool & the first into the pool house. The end of the adventure....not quite. I am not sure if the swim suits were part wool & the warm water caused them to shrink & because mine had been stretched to its limit when the knots were tied and the normal shrinking process became exaggerated or what..... but every single knot had tightened up to the point where I was being held captive by a swim suit. Several of my shipmates literally ripped the dang suit off of my beleaguered body. The morning was a great learning experience - I learned that I can do anything I choose to do & dignity is a crock!! I also learned that one can always count on their shipmates to get you out of trouble or at least out of your swimsuit.........
Enjoy your day!!
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