More whinging, and then some fun stuff

Am writing myself out of my bank-induced bad mood.

Saturday Justin and I thought we would head to the public pool in Central Park for a swim. Like normal people we get there with our bags, replete with towel, SPF 15, book, hat, ipod, sunnies, newspaper, water, snack. The usual. We're settling in for the arvo.

We rock up at about 1.20pm (no one knows the term 'rock up' BTW).

As we enter we get asked to show our locks. What locks? we ask. we're told we need to have a padlock because you have to stow your bags in lockers. We say that one of us will swim and one will keep an eye on the stuff. We're told its not for safety, its so that bags don't take up precious poolside space. We don't have locks so we leave. I sit in a huff and Jus wanders up to Harlem to find a shop that sells locks because the pool doesn't sell locks to those who didn't know or forgot one (every second person there.)

We return with locks. Its now 1.50pm. We're told that this session finishes at 3pm and we'll have to leave then. We ask, What session? The pool has two sessions and this one started at 11am, and the next one starts at 4pm and they vacate the pool in between for an hour. So we can only stay an hour and a bit. Not what we had planned but what are you gonna do?

We go inside. I remove all the things I need and give my bag to Jus, and he stuffs both our bags in a locker. I'm wearing my dress with my bathers underneath. We wander out to the pool. I'm stopped and told I can't wear my dress by the pool. Why? I ask. You can only wear your bathing suit, otherwise people's clothes would be taking up precious poolside space (NB: there's HEAPS of space like every outdoor public pool you've ever been to in Oz). So I have to take off my dress and give it to Jus who goes back inside and stuffs it in the locker.

There are 6 lifeguards at the pool, which is about the size of the Prahran pool. Each lifeguard has a whistle, which they use continously. There is one swimming lane and about a third of the pool is roped off and unexplicably nobody is allowed in it. Maybe not enough lifeguar coverage? At 2.45 the lifeguards descend from their highchair perches and blow their whistles and yell at everyone to get out of the water. Other park guards come and start yelling all the people poolside to pack up and leave. They're yelling and herding hundreds of people into the locker rooms, which are the size of your average public pool changing room. There is no way for all those people to fit.

At the same time they're removing all the chairs and tables so there's nowhere to put your stuff while you're getting changed. The floor is wet and that's the only place for your bag and your dry clothes. Its a 30c day and there are over 100 people trying to get changed at the same time in a space meant for 30. There's a little boy crying outside the door because his mum is inside and he's not allowed in, and he's scared he's lost her.

We go to leave. They've blocked the exit so that only one gate is open and hundreds of people squeeze out. There are so many people that Jus and I lose each other and I wait ten minutes in one area while he's waiting in another. We find each other and vow never to return.

You take something easy and fun like going for a swim, you add in ridiculous rules and treat everyone like dickheads, and you get a wholly unrelaxing, frustrating experience. In this 'land of the free' they sure like to control things to a dizzying extent.

Fun stuff: heading to Miami for the Labor Day long weekend and flitting through the Keys and the Everglades. Booked a trip to Jamaica over Christmas and New Years Eve to see the relos and thaw and dive and soak up the sun. Heading to Providence and Newport for our anniversary weekend to see some more New England cutesiness and use up some of my Amtrak points. I really need a holiday.