Yesterday, we had post from a Park Slope Parents member about the teens terrorizing people at the Sunset Park Pool (and follow up about the teen turd at the Red Hook Pool) by jumping over and over into the pool. Blogger Best View in Brooklyn, who often posts about the pool and all the activities there, tried to put the incident in perspective, noting that there are a lot of kids at the pool, including teens, and that stuff happens. Here’s a bit of what BVIB wrote:
Apparently, the sort of incident described has happened a few times (not just at the Sunset Pool) because the teens know that if one or two do running jumps into the pool (against the rules) they’ll be thrown out. If a large group does it together, no one person gets in trouble. Of course, then the whole pool get shut down and everyone’s fun is ended. However, some teens (like some adults!) couldn’t care less about other people’s fun or safety. In another recent incident, a few teens were thrown out of the pool and proceeded to throw glass bottles into the pool area from outside the fence; no regard for other pool goers safety or fun was clearly demonstrated. The best advice I can offer about the pools in general is to go early. The 11 AM - 3 PM session has far fewer problems than the late afternoon session. Also, I’ve heard from another parents that sticking close to the ramp area is “uncool” for the older kids, making it perfect for the littler ones.In regards to towels being stolen, it stinks, and theft happens all the time. It’s why the rules keep us from bringing much of anything into the pool area (or the locker area, for that matter!). Even the highest cost gyms have plenty of folks who help themselves to other people’s stuff. May all towel thieves one day learn what it’s like to have soaking wet kids and no towel with which to dry them.
And there you have it, summer life at city pools. A GL operative, meanwhile, visited the very well-run Red Hook pool yesterday and reported it to be turd-free.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Lon Chaney // Jul 15, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I am not making light of the rudeness of some Sunset Park swimmers, but do want to offer a bit of a wake-up call.
The bloggers wish “May all towel thieves one day learn what it’s like to have soaking wet kids and no towel with which to dry them.” is so middle America….lol.
Don’t be surprised if the person who took the towel is not a child - but an adult, maybe even a 36 year old grandmother. And don’t be surprised if their least concern someday will be having their child wet for lack of a towel.
There are some very powerful social problems underlying the simple problem of a “stolen” towel.
And with that stated, things are still better than the late 1960’s when park workers began the day by fishing bodies of dead kids out of the pool - at night kids high on “downers” would scale the wall for a swim and drown.
In the original “Werewolf” movie, a gypsy put a curse on the man who became a werewolf. Now that’s a real curse, not just needing a towel one day.
2 Best View in Brooklyn // Jul 15, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Why is the first retort many people come up with “that’s so middle America” or “go back to Ohio”? It’s a bit old. And if wanting your towel to be there when you exit the pool is middle America, sign me up!
Anyone who has gone to the pool during the afternoon hours knows who is at the pool. Most people here are very respectful of other people’s belongings - yes! even in Sunset Park! The towel thief was (almost definitely) a teenager.
Besides, just because it happens doesn’t mean we have to keep working towards the lowest common denominator. To excuse theft to social problems is condescending; there are those who choose to behave in inappropriate ways and those who don’t. Money and social problems don’t demand it. That’s why I mentioned the high cost gyms, where theft is often a problem.
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