Obnoxious

The best thing about being an uncle is that I can see my nieces and nephews when I want and I can send them home after. I also love the fact that if a child is acting-up or being obnoxious, chances are, it isn't mine! Don't get me wrong, I love children. Well behaved little darlings are a pleasure and a joy! And some of the funniest things I have ever heard have come "out of the mouths of babes" as it were.

So I really am not blaming the children here, for messing-up my swim last night and taking all the fun out of it. It is the parents I blame!

Out community has a pool. (I own 1/96th undivided interest in the grounds, the pool, the buildings, and the facilities of my condo community.) Now, it is clearly posted at the gate to the pool and the community rules clearly state that the hours between 08:00 and 20:00 are open to all the community but outside those hours, the pool is either closed or reserved for the use of adults only.

So imagine my surprise when I got back from my bike ride and decided to go for a nice, relaxing swim only to find a children's birthday party going on! There were perhaps three dozen people milling about, more than half of them children, to one corner of the enclosure around the pool. I smiled at them, they smiled back and I dove in and started swimming laps.

One of the children started throwing toys in the pool as I was on my second lap. I imagine his thought process was something like: "that poor man has no toys... the pool is no fun without toys" and so I convinced myself that he was just trying to be friendly.

Aw!

But when one of his little friends joined in and the water became crowded with little rings and water noodles, laps became an impossibility. The parents, finally seeing what the kids were doing, decided this may be a good time to bring out the pinata.

I have no idea where the got this thing, but it is the first one I have ever seen that was made out of cast iron. At least I assume it was cast iron. Each and every kid took turns trying to break the thing with the bad (accompanied, of course, by the cheers, yells, and screams of the other children) and when they had all had a turn making loud thumping and whamming noises, the cartoon characters on the pinata still smiled down at them; mockingly if you ask me, almost as if daring the children to try again.

So they did. This went on for perhaps ten minutes. I kept hoping it would end so I could clear the pool and swim, or at least enjoy lolling in the pool in relative peace. But after they had all had a second go at the impregnable pinata, the parents started going at it.

I dressed and left the pool as one guy (who looked as if he may throw around small cars for enjoyment) was going at the thing with the bat and having no visible affect! Needless to say it was more relaxing out of the pool area than in. Perhaps I can get a swim in this afternoon... perhaps not.

Wherever you are today, I hope that your day is a pleasant one!

Don Bergquist - June 20, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA