I came to master’s practice and she was already in the “fast” lane but she wasn’t fast so she is a Poser. She couldn’t even swim freestyle well so she must be a Poser right? She had a full scuba mask on so she had to be a Poser. She used a snorkel which is the ultimate sign of a poser. She had a T-Shirt on over her swim suit which is a fashion violation in addition to making her a Poser. With all this Poser gear and Poser actions she just “swam” back in forth without noticing all that was going on in the master’s practice or following the Coach’s workout.
What a POSER. According to many of the people that populate this forum I should feel contempt for this woman. I should mock her very existence, out her in this Post as a warning to all Posers not to try this.
But I didn’t call her out for being a Poser; I just smiled and said good morning as she got out of the pool. I had plenty of time to say it, as her advanced Parkinson’s made her exit from the pool to her walker seem like a workout in itself. I wasn’t still around to see her finally reach the club today, but I have watched this journey many times before. Every time I see it, it is an inspiration and a wake up to what life is all about. Some people face obstacles visible or not every time they wake up in the morning that I could never imagine. Just getting out of bed is a challenge, getting to the gym must take more effort then finishing a triathlon. And yet she does it every day with so much class and a smile that it makes me feel small in comparison.
Every time I see a “Poser” thread I think of this woman and it makes me mad as hell. As you pass somebody it full Discovery kit going slow or see that guy swimming with a snorkel, just think about it for a second before you run to your computer and rip them apart.
Reminds me of my swim the other day, we had to circle and one of the ladies was older and VERY slow, I mean like I’m slow and she was lots slower than me. In any event she expressed that she was really slow and I told her not to worry that the other gal I would get around her and to just swim as she would. Yeah I got held up a few times, but she just kept swimming and swimming, she was SO cute. She may not have been fast but her endurance was quite impressive!! Once in a while it’s ok to be gracious and just fit in with the “posers”!
Thanks, brother. That post is HUGE. My dad died 3 years ago from complications related to Parkinson’s Disease. He was a great dad, and a huge role model. He was an outdoorsman from Day 1. He grew up hunting/fishing in the bayous south of New Orleans. We moved to D.C. when I was young so he could work for the Dept. of the Interior. He was a Flyway Biologist/Chief Pilot for the Bureau of Fisheries and Wildlife (translation: he counted ducks for a living). He was paid to live a bush pilot’s existence and flew banding surveys in all of the continental U.S save Vermont and spent the last 5 years of his career flying snow geese surveys out of Inuvik, in the Northwest Territories (i.e., north of the Arctic Circle). In D.C., he found it harder and harder to find good hunting/fishing, so he switched over to jogging, canoeing, and cross-country skiing.
His fitness led to a good news/bad news scenario. The good news: He lived with PD for 15+ years after his diagnosis. The bad news: He lived with PD for 15+ years after his diagnosis. He was so fit/so determined that he basically outlived the ability of any known medications to give his reasonable relief from his symptoms. I am pretty sure he lived the last 5 years of his life completely sleep-deprived (couldn’t sleep more than 4 hours at a stretch without shaking awake), which made him batty … and frustrated.
Less than 3 months before he died, he was swimming laps in our neighborhood’s 50 meter pool.
God bless your Poser, and god bless folks like yourself who have a heart. There is a lot more to people than what meets the eye.
A poser would have showed up in a Fastskin suit, pulling a roller bag full of equipment. Stood on deck stretching and talking about all the races they had won, and how fast they were. Would have stretched for an inordinate amount of time in order to continue blabbing about their PR’s ect., and explaining how everyone needs each and every piece of equipment they lugged to the pool. After a while, they would force everyone out of ‘their’ lane and proceed to sprint a handful of 50s (badly) and then get out and hit the hot tub to continue gabbing.
Edit to add: And the true poser would have asked your lady to get out of the way to make way for a ‘real’ swimmer.
Nice story but no sale. She simply got into the wrong “fast” lane because she didn’t know any better. She was not pretending to be anything. Just a woman that was swimming as best she could.
"Nice story but no sale. She simply got into the wrong “fast” lane because she didn’t know any better. She was not pretending to be anything. Just a woman that was swimming as best she could.
Nice try though. "
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Not selling anything and you totally missed my point. My point was some people take one quick look at a person and make incorrect and downright cold judgments about others. When if they could put themselves in the other shoes they would understand that person and not be so judgmental.
She was in the “Fast Lane” because it was close to the front door and the woman uses a walker. Did you even read the post?
She was in the “Fast Lane” because it was close to the front door and the woman uses a walker. Did you even read the post?
Dave
Well, I read it and thought it was over the top a-hole lecturing. Puh-leeze. No one here worth responding to has called someone like that a poser. An inconvenience, yes. But there’s a huuuuuuuuge gulf between those two.
Sharing my life with someone who has had a lot of physical limitations and medical problems has taught me a huge lesson that we shouldn’t judge before knowing all the facts. Your post was a wonderful example of that. So many times someone may ‘appear’ fine at a glance and we have no clue that something like swimming a lap or walking from the car to the door is like a marathon.
comparing the “posers” people complain about and a person with severe parkinsons is rediculous, they are not interchangable circumstances. I doubt anyone would hold the severely handicapped to the same rules that they hold everyone else to. Also, i doubt anyone with as severe a medical condition as you describe would be mistaken as just another poser. The story of this person swimming is awesome, but it doesnt make the average dude flailing around in the lane im in and generally disrupting everyones swim any less annoying. Just because someones annoying doesnt mean they have something wrong with them, they just may simply be annoying.
“Well, I read it and thought it was over the top a-hole lecturing. Puh-leeze. No one here worth responding to has called someone like that a poser. An inconvenience, yes. But there’s a huuuuuuuuge gulf between those two.”
Ok, sounds like my point didn’t come across as intended. I have read a number of posts about passing slow posers on high dollar bikes. Passing slow posers in full team kits. Laughing at the poser who did a tri with a snorkel. The judgments were made with one quick look. What I intended to point out is if you had just walked in or just walked by and saw this woman what would your reaction have been? Sure anybody who knows her or watched her walk out of the pool would never have said anything like she was a poser. But many of the others who have been called out for being posers could have had some personal issue like this.
In any event she expressed that she was really slow and I told her not to worry that the other gal I would get around her and to just swim as she would. Yeah I got held up a few times, but she just kept swimming and swimming, she was SO cute. She may not have been fast but her endurance was quite impressive!! Once in a while it’s ok to be gracious and just fit in with the “posers”!