The pool syndrome

The link shows Karen saying: "I can't believe I'm at a public pool... why doesn't somebody just pee directly on me?!" Although I swim in one just about everyday, many I know would not step foot in one.

Common wisdom is that since the pool is like a bathtub, the riffraff that visits them must behave worse than those who swim in a country club pool. One friend swears he saw something brown floating in a pool once.  But it's just a matter of trust. There is no guarantee that anyone in any pool would not pee.

The real factors to consider is how big the pool is, how many people swim there, the filtration system and how often the whole thing gets a complete overhaul. The newer the pool, the bigger and the better staffed ones actually have a better chance of cleanliness. The choice is yours.

This syndrome of drawing conclusions simply based on a prejudice is so common. The good is that it seems to simplify life and help us avoid the arduous task of thinking. The bad is that our prejudice can rob us of personal wealth.

Let's start with racial prejudice. So many draw conclusions that a people from a certain country are smarter or less smart based on the limited samples we meet. After all how many people do we have time to get to know. It's easy to be superficial and make us feel superior by concluding we are better than some other group. I won't mention any examples because this prejudice is so common, I'm sure I have concluded wrongly about many people.

So like our concluding that public pools are urine filled, any conclusion that a group of people are smart, less smart, hard working, lazy etc is bound to be wrong. Because it is not the group but the individual that matters when it comes to personal interaction. If we dismiss someone just because of what they look like, where they come from or other prejudice, without looking at how we really feel about an encounter... we could have missed someone who can change our lives.

For unlike a pool, people are not really options for us except for the occasional hermit. Even the most anti-social person will have at least one companion or acquaintance. People make our lives better or worse. Investing in them wisely is more important than any fund based portfolio.