‘Freezing’ Pool Water Tested
In response to residents’ complains, reflected in the very active discussion on theLoop about the temperature of the water at the Hommocks pool,
administered in the summer by the Town of Mamaroneck, representatives from the Town met school officials on Monday to test the water for themselves.
The readings in the indoor swimming pool at Hommocks Middle School? "We dropped thermometers into various spots, and it was 82 yesterday," Superintendent of Recreation Jill Fisher said on Tuesday. "I don’t think 82 is an unreasonable number."
Fisher said different types of thermometers were used and the temperatures were read at various depths.
Fisher said she, along with Town Administrator Stephen Altieri, were satisfied with the temperature but would continue to monitor it. Some lap swimmers, she said, even think it’s too warm.
Loop readers, from their comments, disagree, some very strongly, with the Town’s findings.
"The Town always tries to keep everyone happy, but unfortunately in this case it’s tough," Fisher said. "We are trying to find a balance for everybody."
Is it possible it warmed up since the crazy lady with the thermometer and too much free time tested it last? Or is this a cover up by the town? Hmmmm…sounds like there might be a case of whimpy kid syndrome. I know that these were just little kids in this instance, but could you imagine how much you would have been made fun of (before it became illegal to laugh at your peers) if your mom followed you around testing everything you complained about? Let’s measure how hot the slide gets at flint park, or how hard the ground is when you fall. Should would make concrete softer? This test is too hard, let’s make it easier. What else, wool is too itchy, veggies don’t taste good. Again I realize that the children in this case were LITTLE. BUT overall I think that character is becoming a rare trait among some children in our community because parents are HOVERING, HELICOPTERING, and BABYING. Most kids want more responsibility and want to become independent, value adding young adults. But their parents are scared that their kids won’t like them. Get a life, you are their parent first, their friend when they are older- if you turn them into productive adults. Give them a chance to impress you (on their own). Get them ready for a bit of the real world. What ever happened to merit badges. I would like to see kids in the community, cleaning up the parks, painting murals, planting gardens etc. I think the schools should emphasize this as a requirement to get to the next grade. Yes I am ranting but I am tired of seeing the kids in town, throw tantrums at age 12+, talk back to their parents and act like trolls with no repercussions. I might have gotten spanked when I was little (probably beat but we called it spanked because it sounded more civilized) but I am a better person because of it- I now have good direction following skills, faster reflexes and a healthy respect for the strength and tenacity of an angry mom.
Editrix: I find the previous poster’s comments offensive. To call the woman who instigated the complaint regarding pool temperature crazy is not only juvenile and unkind, but could be considered defamation. It’s fine to have a different opinion, but one shouldn’t act like an adolescent and then complain about how kids are being raised.
The Loop is a great source of local news, but the comments (on numerous stories) continue to be ridiculous and mean-spirited. I’m tired of it!
editrix: lw, i hear you. and i may even agree on a personal level. but as a publisher i have made it a policy to allow all points of view. we don’t publish “personal attacks” and i pondered this one for a few minutes. i decided in the end to let the vox populi decide (in part because the comments were directed to someone who has remained anonymous) and because underneath the rant was an interesting question about parenting in general that merits discussion.
i thank you for your contributions, which are numerous, to the conversations on theLoop.
You clearly were not hugged enough and now suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. Hey, the squeaky wheel, as they say, warmed the pool for EVERYONE to enjoy, not just the cold-hearted (ahem!) and blue-lipped babies who were choppered in by Mommy to the frigid tundra.
Thank you Editrix. LW, I know why you are angered and offended. It is because I am calling out everything Oprah and self help books have been selling the general public for years. Get Real! The greatest generation was the greatest because they took responsibilty, worked for what they had and didn’t make excuses for their shortcomings. Defamation blah, blah, blah- sue somebody, no wait sue anybody- clog up the courts and then complain that nothing gets done. When I was younger Sue was a name. C’mon get real. 99% of the people in our community are wonderful. I am speaking directly to that person who double parks their audi, cuts me in line at starbucks and hits me with one of their three Louis Vuitton bags they feel it necessary to bring on the train with them.
Dear “WIL-E
You are weird AND i guarantee that my testing the pool took less time that your silly essay. Thanks though…..gave us all a good laugh
Also…my 4 “whimpy” kids are enjoying the warmer pool temperatures…I guess I should of beat them instead of getting the pool temperature raised. Hopefully they will turn out alright.
I think Wil E makes an excellent point. Editrix: your decision to focus only on “crazy lady” and go so far as to call it defamation, is an attempt to silence him/her. It also shows me you were not able to refute any of his points. Reminds me of the “racist” tag being thrown around these days. What it really means is “shut up, we don’t like what you’re saying.”
editrix: uh Billy- you may want to read that again. i don’t believe I “called” anybody anything, nor would i. Perhaps you could do the same.
So calling someone “crazy” in an anonymous email is now considered offensive and mean-spirited? Whatever … I guess we are not only approaching the apex of civilized life but also of PC tolerance that bars honest discussion. Perhaps getting a slightily thicker skin would help with internet forum discussions and pool temperatures.
As to WIL-E’s broader point, couldn’t agree more. Our children have the luxury of growing up in an affluent community where they almost never lack for anything. Smoothing out even the smallest bumps in the road for them is not, imo, what the parents should be doing, unless you want spoiled children unprepared for the real world. Teaching them manners and respect rather than giving them a sense of unbound entitlement would be more appropriate. How many children in our community say “thank you” when given a sweet treat? Let’s just say not as many as ask for seconds.
As for the pool, to state the obvious, temperatures vary in an unheated pool, so a slight warming is perfectly plausible. If the town spent our tax dollars heating the pool in response to these rants, shame on them, but I don’t think that’s the case.
I’m with WIL-E, would have written the same rant if I had the time. Goodness, our feelings are so[i] delicate[/i] these days. WIL-E clearly stated that s/he was writing a rant, which is not a flame. Not to know the difference perhaps demonstrates Internet naivete rather than a higher sensibility.
I think you’re all crazy. So sue me. See if I care.
I enjoy a nice cold swimming pool. Unclogs my head.
And by the way, am I the only person in this town with enough grapes to actually use my own name? Cowards. (Sue me for that, too. Wimps.)
Dear “WIL-E”
You seem to have gotten WAY off topic don’t you think? What the heck are you talking about?
The 80+ people at the pool who signed the petition for a warmer pool are not the Audi driving, Starbuck drinking, Loius Vuitton toting monsters you describe (what town do you live in?) It is a bunch of moms who want their kids to learn how to swim. We all paid for a pool permit ($475) and then $90 per kid so they could learn how to swim. You need to get some therapy or why don’t you try swimming some laps 🙂
Sorry, everyone, I have to go off-topic here. Nothing about the pool, so skip now if you want….
Silly Wil-E…nothing new about your rant, nothing fundamentally different about the kids in our town vs. anywhere USA…I grew up in a blue-collar Putnam County town where you could hear the same stuff on any given day at our little lake beach back in the ’70s/’80s. As a regular visitor back there today, I can assure you that the gripes remain the same, even if the gripers are driving Chevys instead of Audis. Gee…parents are…overprotective and coddling! Children are…priviledged and lazy! It’s all local, Wil, and little has changed. Still, as an elementary-school teacher from a family of educators, I will say that I am impressed every day with today’s kids…everywhere. Kids today are busier, more involved, more knowledgeable, and more driven and dedicated to larger issues than when I was a kid. Yikes! But…can they be rude? Obnoxious to their parents? And their teachers? Petulant? Self-focused? YES! They’re KIDS! Do parents get embarrassed and sometimes choose to deal with it privately later? Maybe. And do some parents mess up and end up encouraging poor behavior? YES! Everywhere. Yesterday and today. Affluent towns and less so. At Starbucks and Walmart. The kids are still kids, but it’s not all bad. So chill. In the pool. And read about just a fraction of the stuff that today’s kids do in the local papers and get happier. 😀
[quote][i]Realism … has no more to do with reality than anything else.[/i] – Hob Broun[/quote]
Just wanted to put in somebody’s two cents on this critical issue, that seems to drift between hot and cold, before I go to chill out 🙂
what is so wrong with a parent trying to warm up the pool by a few degrees? why does will-eeeee jump to the inaccurate conclusion that just bc someone is trying to have a discussion about the pool temperature that she is crazy and has to much time on her hands. I know jwow and applaud her for trying to see what could be done instead of just complaining about it-and Will if you have such a prob with audi’s and LV bags on the train then feel free to move out of here, perhaps where corporeal punishment is the norm
I find some of the responses to Will-e a whole lot more mean spirited than his/her initial “rant”. JWow calls the poster “weird” and The Situation invites him/her to move out of the community if he/she doesn’t like the omnipresent Audis and LV bags, despite the fact that he/she never mentioned having a problem with these particular items. And as for his/her broader point, that’s somehow considered “way off topic”.
Well, this is a community with too many extreemely well educated people with too much time on their hands, and issues like the pool temperature, zoning variances, tenure decisions, etc. give them a misplaced outlet for their unsatisfied ambitions and intellectual abilities. And yes, they may be just moms, but most of them do drive Audis or something comparable in luxury. Nothing wrong with that … nobody needs to apologize for having the means to afford a better (or at least fancier) car. But teach your children some perspective so that they dn’t melt down the first time they don’t get the car, the job or the house they want. Teach them that the poool is not only meant for swim lessons but also for lap swimmers who prefer the temperature a little colder. And teach them not to shun someone who disagrees with you and urge them to “move out”. Tolerance seems to be a one-way street – you’d better be tolerant of my views. When it comes to my being tolerant of yours … not so much.
Ifswimlikearock read will-e’s comments you would see he does complain about the “doubleparked Audi”s and being hit with LV bags on the train.” i am not telling anyone to move -merely suggesting that if he/she doesn’t like the type of area this is then there is an alternative. As for people having too much time on their hands, I work full time, have two children, one with special needs and drive a hybrid non-luxurious car. And DESPITE having no free time i can still appreciate a mother who notices that the swim teachers are wearing wet suits in the summer. Seeing if you can get the pool temp raised is hardly the same as not getting your kid the car he wants when he gets a license. Swimlike…is the one who should show some tolerance for other peoples views before he/she jumps to unfounded conclusions
Okay, now I have the time to approach this subject more seriously. JWOW, I completely support you in your goal to have your children learn to swim. As a former swimming teacher, with lifeguard and WSI qualifications (admittedly now lapsed), I think it is extremely important that they learn how to swim. And they should learn how to get warmed up in slightly cooler water while learning the lesson that when life throws you in the water unexpectedly, the water is not going to be a balmy 80-2 degrees (that’s partly my teacher side, but mostly my lifeguard side).
Out of the five summers I spent teaching swimming, one was at a private summer camp on Philadelphia’s Main Line (the children of which the sheltered, pampered children of Westchester County have nothing). It took the usual cajoling to get them in the water that was sub-80 and get them warmed up – children say, six to puberty, usually have a lower body fat ratio (I said usually, that probably is outdated today) and need to be vigorously active in the water to warm up and acclimate. They would, like children everywhere, prevaricate a little and complain, and I would look at them and say, “Get in. You will be all right.” And behold! Muffy got in and was all right! I agree with Cathy; the kids are fine. In retrospect, I did not have Muffy and Chip’s parents fretting on the sidelines of the cold pool while their children got on with it and learned how to swim (and also that “cold” pool water is part of life). I didn’t realize how good I had it!
Based on my experience as described, I find the campaign by parents to raise the temperature of the Hommocks Pool to be cr…..wait, can’t use that word, if Westchester children are sensitive, their parents are even more so… ill-considered. Indeed, as several posters mentioned, it is a midjudged use of time by those who have access to more of it than most. I’m in danger of exhausting my polite euphemisms. It’s all silly. Let’s just get back to summer and let the kids learn to swim.
Dear “swimlikearock”
Why is it ok to call someone crazy but not ok to call someone weird. 2 posts ago you said that we should all get thicker skin but now you are upset. make up your mind. I still think all this garbage is way off topic. do either you or “wil-e” even belong to the pool? maybe you have too much time on your hands…getting involved in a subject that doesn’t effect you at all.
the pool has been warmed up and my kids are learning to swim.
thank you to the loop for running this story! shout out to ronnie, pauly d and snooki
Dear JWow,
I am pointing out lack of balance. People came to your defense b/c Wil-E called you crazy, but nobody seems to care that you have more than returned the favor and that your cohorts are inviting Wil-E to move out – based on statements he/she did not make, to boot.
For the record, yes, I do belong to the pool and swim a fair amount … like the temp a little cooler than it’s been lately as that’s better for lap swimming, but I can deal with normal fluctuations, trust me. If you consider the topic of how we raise our children to be “off-topic” you can simply ignore the posts. Instead, you want to dismiss them because you can’t refute the raised points. You don’t agree, so I need to stop … makes sense.
Finally, stop congratulating yourself on the temp change. I suspect that the pool temp was cold for a couple of days b/c the staff put in a lot of fresh water all at once – something they do when somebody vomits in the pool … or worse. The laws of nature take a couple of days to equilibrate water and air temps, without the need for your “intervention”.
Okay, so JWow takes appropriate steps by first asking the pool staff (wearing wetsuits!) to raise the temperature of the pool, and finds herself having to deal with the Superintendent. Miraculously, before the Superintendent shows up, the pool temperature jumps from 70 to 82, inviting complaints from lap swimmers and frugal tax payers. I don’t think JWow was expecting it to be heated to 82 degrees, but simply warm enough for her children (and the children of 80 other parents in agreement) just learning to swim and therefore not yet moving quickly enough to generate body heat.
And don’t most communities these days stress the need for more kids to take swimming lessons for fitness and safety? Well, let’s turn them on at an earlier age (the range of most drownings) by making it a more pleasant experience for them to learn in, and the instructors could lose their wetsuits too.
Take note also, that the 80 parents who signed JWow’s petition, each paid $475, representing income for the City of $38,000, on top of the money for swimming lessons as well.
There’s a quote by, I think, Mark Canfield that goes something like, “You may not get what you ask for, but you’ll never get what you don’t ask for.” Kudos to JWow, for demonstrating this simple principle to her kids.
Dear Syrec, this petition is not a demonstration of the wisdom of crowds, it is an example of the opposite (and since they have invested a fee above and beyond, that only makes it more incumbent upon them to do the research they obviously did not do). This campaign is, as I have described using my actual swimming teaching/lifeguarding experience, a misguided use of well-intentioned energy. Has anyone noticed that every poster on this thread who has more than passing experience with swimming finds the petition without merit or actually negative?
JWOW has demonstrated for her children the principle of spending a great deal of energy for a campaign that, if more research had been done and more swimmers consulted, would not have happened. I applaud her energy and initiative. For all of the worthy causes local, area and global, I hope that her next cause will be more worthy. I have my own list of worthy causes for which I really wish I could do more if I could find the time (to research them as well to ensure their merit). For those who do have the time, I salute them – and if any reader has the time, I have a prelim suggestion for a campaign involving pedestrian safety in Larchmont, an actual life and death issue.
Oh, and the class stereotypes/descriptions being slung about – JWOW, you cannot possibly be surprised that class/income/consumption is considered connected, ancillary but connected, to a campaign to raise the temperature of a swimming pool. You see it as getting return on your (fee) investment and taxes, but seen from a larger angle, pursuing an issue like this can only be done by those who have blown far past the first level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. You are indeed in a privileged position to complain, however justified you feel. It is hardly shocking that others would comment on this aspect as it is ripe for satire.
Quite frankly, the comments in this rant are not a demonstration of the wisdom of some residents of the area either. It would appear that if there are more worthy causes to be addressed, then residents should be spending their time devoted to them, rather than flogging a dead horse. The indoor pool should have been, and now is, heated to a comfortable temperature for kids and lap swimmers alike. Move on.
I stopped going to the pool since they covered it. Very unappetizing.
Ah Syrec, you should likewise move on if you are mistaking that for a rant.
Are you people seriously still talking about this? Me thinks you need something better to do with your spare time…