It’s Like We’re Rich People

“When this pool is perfect, it’s really perfect!” I exclaim to Handsome Swimmer Man, waving my arm in sweeping drama at the empty pool.

I hadn’t seen him in months. Had run into him one day coming out of the locker room, heading up the stairs. He told me he had arthritis in both his shoulders. Ouch. And so wrong for a swimmer. I’d suggested that he get some fins, kick laps, just to get in the pool. He’d nodded, thought it was a good idea, but then I hadn’t seen him.

So today, when the pool was empty except for the two of us, I kept trying to catch his eye as we both swam back and forth, back and forth. He seemed fine. Zipping past me, doing all the strokes. No evidence of any arthritis that I could see.

“It’s like we’re Rich People!” he joked, tossing his cap onto the deck and shaking out his hair.
“Oh, yes! If I were rich, the first thing I’d buy is my own pool!”
We’d laughed. “It seems like you’re feeling better?” I ventured. “The arthritis is gone?”
He shrugged, “Nah, not really.”

“But you’re swimming! Zooming past me!”
He chuckled. “Yeah, well, it’s better, but ….I’ve been running. Though it’s not the same.”

“No, nothing is the same as swimming.” For myself, I won’t run. It is torture. I immediately am felled with a side ache that would progress into nausea if I ever were to try running for more than 10 feet.

Silent for a moment, he stares into space, then turns to me, polite, interested, “How’s your health?”
Do I tell him how crummy I feel when I’m not in the pool? How I haven’t been able to sleep for over a year. That I have no energy or that….

Nah, I just nod, “Fine…fine….I don’t have any arthritis!”
“That’s good. And your Significant Other?”
“Oh, he’s fine.” I’m a little thrown off. How did he know Ian? I guess it’s a small place, Hilltopia is, so people see each other and their Significant Others. For instance, I’ve seen his. I can’t really see any details of her, except that she’s beautiful.
“He swims too?” he asks now.
“Yeah, but only once a week.”
“That’s good. That’s a start. He seems fit.”
“Yes, well, I chose him for that reason. His family has longevity and good health.”
“That’s a good criteria.”
“And your Significant Other? Does she swim?
“Yeah, she does, but not here. She says the chlorine is too much for her here.”

“Yes, it’s awful. Though not as bad as the Oakland Y. Has she tried the Richmond Plunge? They don’t use chlorine there. It’s some sort of salt based additive. It’s buoyant and beautiful."
He nods, “No, we haven’t tried there. We should check it out. We were just in Hawaii and we went to a pool there with no chlorine . You had to have a special certification for mixing the non-chlorine chemicals…..”

My ears are still clogged, so I don’t quite hear this or understand. A special chlorine certification ?Like a chlorine chemist? What was that? Was it some sort of Tropical Regulation Situation? Like the pets have to have their shots? So the pools have to have their chemists?

“I love Hawaii!” I gush instead.
He nods, then shakes out his goggles. “Well, good to see you.”
“Yes, you too. Nice being Rich for an hour!”
He grins, then climbs out of the pool, again no evidence of any shoulder arthritis in this action.

I'm happy for him. That he's swimming again. And for me. A Handsome Swimmer Man in my pool---There's no 'like' about it--I am a Rich Person!