The Girl at the Pool - Part 1

As a swimmer, I get to meet a lot of people who also swim, mostly at my club. These are swimmers of all ages and all types. Since they all swim at the same time, and at roughly the same time, it is easy to determine who is worth your time and who isn't.

Many of the swimmers that I have come across are total stuck up douches, but every so often, you come across someone remarkable. As my little sister is also a swimmer, I get to hear a lot of stories about her friends from the pool and what they do. In a way, my sister's stories let me get to know a person, before actually getting to know them. I learn a lot about each one of her friends and what they do, how funny they are, etc..

One of her friend's, who she mentions most often, I have known for a long time. She is 11 years old, really tall for her age and pretty - in a funky way. She always has a smile and is always talking about stuff. Needless to say, she is my kind of girl. I like people like her.

Ever since I was little, I have had the notion that older people know more than their younger counterparts. Thus, I never would've considered the fact that one day, I'd actually be learning from someone younger than me - but that's exactly what happened.

A few days ago, my little sister came home, and begun divulging a "juicy story" to me. It had to do with the really tall girl. She told me that this girl had sworn during practice, and thus was asked to stay after practice, so that the coach could have a word with her. I was surprised, as this girl really didn't seem like the type who swears. Apparently, some really annoying boy was annoying her, and she said the dreaded words "fuck you" to him. This is no big deal in my age group, but I guess that there are higher standards for younger kids.

Personally, I would have given him more than just a swear word if he had said the things he had said to her to me. I would have punched him in the face - and I'd have every right to do so. He had said that it had slept with the girl's mom. Okay, I mean, I get "mom" jokes, but you can't just go around telling people that you got it on with their mom - especially not out of the blue.

This boy had, according to my sister, been the most annoying living soul ever since he started swimming, with his constant teasing. Anyway, the coach talked to her, and told her all about the negative effects of swearing, and you know, gave her the proverbial "slap on the wrist".

This is always traumatic as a young girl, especially one who isn't used to criticism, so she cried.

What's the point that I'm trying to get at here? Well, I talked to this girl the next time I saw her at the pool. A covenant "shower area" talk. I blatantly asked her about what my sister told me. This girl, being the amazingly wise young girl that she is, admitted. She said that she felt really bad about it. I told her not to worry, and that she's a good kid - that's when she said the stupendous thing. She looked at me and she said "well, it's probably better that I did". Such a simple phrase, but it really got to me. I asked her "why?" And she elaborated. She gave me a very philosophical statement. This really tall girl said "well, you know, if I hadn't said anything, then I just would've kept it inside. And then, one day, I'd just get a gun and kill everyone." Initially, I laughed, and I told her that I totally supported her decision.

That night, I went home contemplating the complexities of life. (I'm trying to say I had nothing to do, so I just thought about whatever I could). Then the thought popped into my mind. What she had said was true entirely. You can't live your whole life only observing injustice, you actually have to voice it  - for your own good. You need to say what's on your mind, otherwise you'll end up doing exactly what she said - grabbing a gun and killing everyone.

I really did think long and hard about this. The degree of political correctness that currently exists in our society. Everyone encourages you to speak your mind, but they don't actually want you to. If your opinion is any different from the social norm, society will eat you up and spit you out. Those people that want you to voice your opinion, only want you to do so if your opinion is the same as their's. That's BS, in my opinion. So I realized that I need to speak up. If I don't, well then I'll probably end up killing either myself, or those around me. I don't want either.
I asked myself: "what is a social injustice that I need to speak up about?" I couldn't really think of anything that was within reach. The typical ideas of world peace and poverty came to mind, but those were just impossible. The next thing that came up was probably the most prominent thing in my life. Debate. I thought about all the injustices that take place in debate. How there are always undeserving winners, and how the tournaments are -for the most part- fixed. I decided to speak up. I decided to say what the majority was thinking, but how? I knew that most of the people in my school agreed that the tournaments were fixed. I knew that this rigging had actually made so many of the debaters in my club fed-up. Some weren't even going to tourneys with the intention of winning, rather just for fun. These debates had crushed the hopes of success of so many children. Somebody needed to say something.