June 15, 2006
It felt like a giant, mushy cotton ball.I jerked my foot up quickly, but because the kids and I were frolicking in the junior section of the outdoor pool, where nobody who still wears swim diapers can touch, my mind did not immediately jump to the possiblity of "giant turd." Then I looked down. I wanted with all my heart to beleive it was just a Tootsie Roll, but I immediately alerted the lifeguard, and herded the kiddos to the other side of the pool.For a full two minutes, as other oblivious children with wide-open mouths jumped in and swam by the area in question, the lifegaurds took turns peering down into the water. They giggled incessently as, I assume, they had the Tootsie Roll/big turd debate. They finally told everyone to evacuate the water.One lifegaurd grabbed a net, and as he made his way around the pool to do some fishing, a giant line of kids formed behind him like he was the Pied Piper, until there were at least 50 kids following this guy on his way to fetch a turd. If only I'd had my camera.After 15 minutes of feces fishing, a sweep with the pool vac, and some heavy chlorination, we were all back in pool, swimming and playing like it was a fresh, mountain stream. But when I saw a lifegaurd in the even deeper, southern end of the pool looking into the water and shaking his head 15 minutes later, I knew it was time to call it a day. As we all exited the pool for the second time in an hour I mentioned to a friend that I had the good fortune of discovering the day's first piece of poop, but hadn't been lucky enough to witness this number two #2. My friend then replied that the second turd in question had actually floated right by her daugther as she swam.Accidents happen, but two pieces of poop in one hour, both in the deep end, is strange and gross. However, as a parent with young kids, giving up the outdoor pool as a regular summer destination is simply not an option. Besides, it's not really the facility's fault. I'll probably be back next week.Just don't laugh when you see sporting some $2.99 water shoes from Walgreens.
Comments
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Joel (Joel Mathis) says...
Here's a little factoid I reported a couple of years back, filed under the "Never Gonna Forget This Factoid" label:
"A pool in a large-scale city can expect a fecal accident once a day, is what the water industry guys tell me," he said. "A city like Lawrence might have it every few days. But you usually don't notice."
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/sep...
Filed also under the: "Wish I'd Never Learned This Factoid" cross-reference label.
June 15, 2006 at 9:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
chrisgladfelter (anonymous) says...
Now I can't get the Baby Ruth scene from "Caddyshack" out of my head.
June 15, 2006 at 10:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Dazie (Aileen Dingus) says...
sorry Liz- I know I shoud be going "eeew!" right along with all the normal folks, but that whole story made me giggle, as I immediately flashed (as did Chris) to "doody!" and "Spaulding! Don't touch it!"
June 15, 2006 at 11:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
Arrrgh. People had almost talked me into taking Penny to the pool. Tough.
One of the reasons I haven't, albeit a smaller reason than concern for *her* health, is I don't really think it terribly polite to stick a non-potty-trained baby into a communal body of water.
Maybe it comes from my swim-team years. The only indoor pool in Parsons was at the State Training Facility--the place where people stick their profoundly retarded children. There was never any visible doody, but the chlorine level was so high your skin would peel, your eyes were permanantly bloodshot, and blonde hair turned green within an hour's worth of contact.
That, and summer vacations at Table Rock have kind of spoiled me on swimming anywhere else. Pool, too germy. Lone Star, too dead-fishy and muddy.
I guess we're stuck with the wading pool and the garden hose this summer. . . .
June 16, 2006 at 8:12 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
liz (Liz Weslander) says...
Thing is, I'm pretty sure these incidents were the fault of people who are, presumabley, potty trained. I'm a little baffled as to what happened - laziness? intentional sabotage? honest mistake?
June 16, 2006 at 8:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
I'm betting on the second, probably the result of a dare. Don't they tell kids that lie about the special chemical that turns red if you pee in the pool anymore? I believed that 'till I was like 10.
June 16, 2006 at 9:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
Was "Putting the Poo in Pool" too easy of a title?
June 16, 2006 at 9:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ladylaw (Terry Bush) says...
Cryptosporidium is spread how??? http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasit...
I really hate seeing bad behaviors, but kids (and people) aren't always perfect. But there is a big difference between pranks and deliberate bad behaviors that endager the health and safety of others!!? Not to mention the cost of (again) getting the pool safely cleaned up. Are they TESTING the poo found - to see if it contains the parasites??
IF anyone is deliberately pooping in a pool, over the age of 3, it is no laughing matter. I hope they get caught and the cops are called!
Meanwhile, I hear there are now other pool alternatives in town....
June 16, 2006 at 10:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
liz (Liz Weslander) says...
Chris, no it's actually a great title. My train of thought was along the lines of that classic sign that says something like "Welcome to our "ool" notice, there is no "p" in it....etc,."
As other bloggers can attest, there are times when you just slap the first title that comes to mind on the entry and get back to your real life. That was the case here. Do you mind if I steal your idea and change the title?
ladylaw, I'm pretty sure my kids had crypto when it went around a few years back, and agree that proper procedures should be followed and that something should be done if poop in the deep end starts to become a regular occurence. I was not impressed by the amount of dilly dallying on the pool staff's part with this incident. However, for me, there's no choice but to laugh at the absudity of it all.
Do tell about the pool alternatives - $500 for Alvamar is not an option for us.
June 16, 2006 at 10:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OnShakedown (Chris Tackett) says...
Liz, steal away. It'd be an honor to have my poo joke atop your fine poo post.
June 16, 2006 at 12:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ladylaw (Terry Bush) says...
Liz, I'm very glad your kids recovered, if in fact they had the parasite. But some kids who are younger, smaller, not in good health etc. have very serious problems if they get crypto. Cryptosporidium has been a contributing cause of death in some immunocompromised people!
I realize that babies or those with poor bowel control might not be able to control when/where they "go". So if you or your child fits in either category, stay out of public pools! Anyone old enough to be swimming (especially in the deep end of a pool) is old enough to (a) Control their bowel movements or (b) make the decision to stay out all together if they can't!
And if the pool people don't take poo in the water seriously, they could face not only another round of shut-downs and clean-ups, inconvenient and costly, but potential legal liability for not taking the necessary steps to prevent and/or punish persons who might be "pooing" as a mere prank.
I'm not easily grossed out and have a rather gutter sense of humor. But deliberately exposing others to a serious health hazard is no laughing matter. Ask the guy now being charged for intentional HIV exposure of others....
June 16, 2006 at 1:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
As far as the pool staff goes. . . .heh. All those little shits who signed on so they could get tans and flirt with each other, nobody told them they'd be having to clean up poo. So they were probably all fighting over who had to---EEEEEWWWW!!!!---touch it with a net on a ten-foot pole.
Another reason I don't dig public pools. "Lifeguard" at those places is just a euphemism for "flaky teenaged future skin-cancer patient who passed the same CPR class I took in 7th grade".
June 16, 2006 at 3:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
zigzagwanderer (Kyle Carter) says...
misty-
you're being just a bit too broad with your generalization here, don't you think? i'm sure that there are plenty of well-trained and intelligent life guards.
June 16, 2006 at 5:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mitzibel (Misty Nuckolls) says...
Yeah, zig, I'm sure there are. . . .I just haven't had the pleasure of meeting one. I guess I'm biased from an experience I had as a small child nearly drowning while three of our pool's four lifeguards were gathered around the chair of the fourth comparing tans.
June 16, 2006 at 11:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheEleventhStephanie (anonymous) says...
Hey, I was a good lifeguard back in my day. I got tan and even saved a few people. So there.
June 17, 2006 at 11:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
thetomdotdot (anonymous) says...
Turds in the pull is the ultimate preventable accident. My kids wore 'little swimmers', but even so, at the earliest age we could manage, they were taught not to relieve themselves in the pool. Sometimes I wish I hadn't been such a nazi about it because we have to take them to the bathroom (which I'm not sure I will EVER allow them to do alone) every time they have to pee.
Actually a bigger source of pool water nasty than the occasional turd is the combined perspiration/lotion from just having humans in the pool. How many people actually shower before they swim? I thought so.
As far as life guards go, I expect nothing and am never disappointed. I would feel better at the pool if there was at least one adult present with a vocabulary of more than 'like' and 'whatever'. I stay within saving distance of my kids at all times.
I know, TheEleventhStephanie, I was a busy lifeguard too, but back in my day...(blah, blah, blah).
June 21, 2006 at 10:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )