- Joined
- Jan 12, 2015
- Messages
- 17,308
- Reaction score
- 34,730
GotchaInner city people in the US dont have access to pools and thus dont often learn how to swim
Same reason i never learned. I'm not explosive though
GotchaInner city people in the US dont have access to pools and thus dont often learn how to swim
Same reason i never learned. I'm not explosive though
My man. LOL.got to live up to the stereotype here... i can't swim for shit and don't plan to lol.
Inner city people in the US dont have access to pools and thus dont often learn how to swim
Same reason i never learned. I'm not explosive though
I'm 24 and have no idea how to swim. I'm probably on a boat or the beach 30 times throughout the summer, plus all the times at a pool. Not knowing how to swim has not had a major impact on my life.
I'm a great swimmer. Made it to the county championships a few times when I was young. I refused to wear a speedo when I turned 11 and quit. My nieces have been taking lessons starting at two.
I always thought swimming came naturally for most animals. I swim like a fish.
Nature's way of thinning out the herd!
I don't like to be insensitive in such grave matters, but to me, the idea of professional open-sea fisherman drowning next to a dock or in calm waters deserves its own category at the Darwin awards.I worked on a lobster boat for a while and you'd be shocked how many fishermen say they don't know how to swim.
A guy drowned one day right next to the docks. Fell off the dock and couldn't swim well enough to make it a few feet to the shore.
Swimming should be instinct. Everyone can do it. Anyone who can't swim, can't do it because they tell themselves they can't. It's all in their head.... Unless they are handicapped or something
That's not even close to the full story, tho. There are a lot of cultural reasons why blacks can't swim, starting with the fact that the few public pools available to people who grew up in the city were segregated and off limit to blacks right up until the 1960s. There are plenty of stories from the 60s of people demanding swimming pools be drained and cleaned because they let a colored kid in the pool. There are a bunch of posters here in Sherdog who are old enough to remember that era (not me, haha).
Most people learn how to swim from their family and friends, at least initially. I learned from my dad and my family from hanging out at swimming pools and swimming holes. Likely, if your dad and your cousins don't swim, you don't swim, either.
And kidding about hair aside, there are a LOT of black hairstyles that are completely incompatible with swimming. Especially women's hairstyle.
And yeah, it is effectively discriminatory to have swimming as a requirement for a job that has nothing to do with swimming. Swimming used to be a stand-in for general fitness, that's it. There are other ways of testing that. And while you could conceive of a one in a million hypothetical scenario where a firefighter might be required to swim, the overwhelming majority will never be in a situation where it's an issue. Unless it's harbor/river unit or something.
I couldn't imagine not being able to swim. It's right up there with riding a bike.
Car drives into a body of water. Not exactly a 1 in a million situation in many places, happens all the time. People may need to be rescued. No problem with it being a requirement for the fire brigade, they do more than fight fires.
Soldiers need to be able to swim right? How often do they actually swim in the line of duty?
I got a new staff in September, 22 years old Burmese, just graduated with a civil engineering diploma. He had never ridden a bike in his life.
I was speechless when he told me that...and quite sad.
He has since learned because using a bicycle instead of walking is very useful in his job.
No I just wanted to wear a normal bathing suit which makes you very slow.You wanted to go commando?