Sartre Could Have Been Wrong

All last week I would have denied this.

While overall it was quite a good week, it was a sort of testimony to the validity of Jean-Paul Sartre's quote: "Hell is other people."

But tonight made a strong case for an alternate possibility: Hell is timing a swim meet in which nearly 40 children must swim a mile.

Think about that, will you. Take a moment: 1650 yards= nearly 1 mile. 66 laps. 40 children cycled through an 8-lane pool. That's five heats of eight children.

Last night's average swimmer swam the mile in 20-25 minutes. Five 25 minute heats........ that's OVER TWO HOURS!

I enjoyed the first two hours of the session, and they sped by pretty quickly, really. I was excited to turn over the heat sheet and see there was only one event left. My heart fell when I saw that the 1650 freestyle was the final event. The final TWO HOUR event.

I could go, get dinner, gas up the car, and still make it back to pick up the sheets at the end. Or, I could catch a movie. (Not King Kong, though. King Kong is too long.)

There's almost something zen about watching children swim

back......


and forth......


back........


and forth.......


But I am not into zen. And while the kids did an amazing job, I just kept wishing I'd thought to bring a book. Instead, I watched them swim.

66 laps per heat.

330 total laps.

One. Long. Night.