Saturday, July 11, 2009

AC and Swimming

The local swimming pool is not much used, not compared to usage 33 years ago when I moved here. I speculate AC is to blame. When I was a boy, air conditioning was not prevalent. In the summer the best and cheapest way to cool off was to swim. That established a pattern, a habit which carried forward.

Compare that to now: everyone who lives in a house built in the last 40 years which is south of the Canadian border has air conditioning, and many others as well. So swimming has lost ground, fewer kids swim, and fewer swimmers persist into adulthood. It's harder to get lifeguards, insurance is more costly, and recreation is more organized.

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