Well done on the gym and swimming. Your comments on written and unwritten rules in both swimming pools and society generally are interesting. We are not more constrained than our predecessors, who had manual jobs, often poor health, few transport options, etc., but the sheer number of rules that we have to follow today causes difficulties. The extra rules are partly due to the increasing complexity of society, but there are also officials and companies who take pleasure in framing unnecessary rules that we have to follow.
A great metaphor Ant. Yes, we have to be aware of and obey the rules, but – if we do so – we sometimes earn the right to stray from them. Often nowadays the people breaking the rules don’t even seem to know what they are: these are the folk you find coming the wrong way down your lane.
Well done, Ant; you have, of course, done swimmingly.
I am not partial to being in the water, myself, but I can relate this to many aspects of daily life: driving; being in the supermarket, navigating the aisles with one’s trolley; or simply being in any close proximity to other people. I avoid those instances as much as possible; the 2 meter social distancing we had during Covid suited me well, I must say.
Capturing that sense of freedom whilst stepping outside the daily routine… the drudge, one might call it… it is essential to our well being, indeed. I think perhaps they both are.
I imagine that the person chasing your heels would end up in the same position eventually, if each of you continued to swim at the same pace. I find that quite amusing!
Well done on the gym and swimming. Your comments on written and unwritten rules in both swimming pools and society generally are interesting. We are not more constrained than our predecessors, who had manual jobs, often poor health, few transport options, etc., but the sheer number of rules that we have to follow today causes difficulties. The extra rules are partly due to the increasing complexity of society, but there are also officials and companies who take pleasure in framing unnecessary rules that we have to follow.
A great metaphor Ant. Yes, we have to be aware of and obey the rules, but – if we do so – we sometimes earn the right to stray from them. Often nowadays the people breaking the rules don’t even seem to know what they are: these are the folk you find coming the wrong way down your lane.
Well done, Ant; you have, of course, done swimmingly.
I am not partial to being in the water, myself, but I can relate this to many aspects of daily life: driving; being in the supermarket, navigating the aisles with one’s trolley; or simply being in any close proximity to other people. I avoid those instances as much as possible; the 2 meter social distancing we had during Covid suited me well, I must say.
Capturing that sense of freedom whilst stepping outside the daily routine… the drudge, one might call it… it is essential to our well being, indeed. I think perhaps they both are.
I imagine that the person chasing your heels would end up in the same position eventually, if each of you continued to swim at the same pace. I find that quite amusing!
Good one, Ant.