Fear and Loathing in the Pool

It is quite common knowledge that one gets ripped off at petrol filling stations. One way they do it is adulterate the fuel and another way is to fill in lesser than what you paid for. The latter is usually done at the level of the guys who fill in the fuel. Either way you are the loser. Sometime last week I fell for a very common trick they employ. It happens like this- you pull up at the petrol bunk and after you tell them how much to fill, the guys try to distract you by asking for change or by asking you again how much petrol to fill, anything to keep you from looking at the meters. It is the guy who has the money bag who tries to distract you in that manner.

If they succeed in distracting you for a few seconds it is enough for them. To answer their queries that they ask you repeatedly you have to look at them and when you turn your head away, you’ve had it. Though I was aware of this trick having been fooled quite a number of times, I just turned away for a second to look at the cashier and when I looked at the meter, it showed that they had filled sixty rupees worth of petrol in one second. What the guy did was fill the petrol without putting the meter back to zero after filling the guy before me. I couldn’t do anything about it except tell them I knew the trick.

Corporates usually don’t do any kind of social service unless there is something in it for them. Last week I had stopped at a traffic signal near Rasoolpura. I saw uniformed guys holding up a banner which said it was illegal to talk on the phone while driving. The guys were from Pizza Corner and no sooner had the traffic stopped than another batch of uniformed guys scattered among the motorists distributing menus of their pizzas. I heard one motorist say it would have been better if Pizza Corner gave away pizzas instead of the menus.

The swimming pool is one of the few places where one can witness different styles of parenting that some kids are subject to. This is the third year I’m taking my kid to the swimming pool and as in the past two years I am seeing the same type of torture some parents inflict on their young children.

I really do not understand why some parents think that their kids should start swimming on their first day at the pool. One should see how some parents intimidate their kids into jumping into the pool straight away. I feel sorry for some of the kids who are scared of entering the water. I’ve seen parents drag their reluctant kids and throw them into the pool. This is the macho style of parenting that believes that one has to use force to get the kids to learn something the parents are interested in more than the kids. Yesterday I saw a father hurl his terrified four or five year old kid into the water. Before that I saw the kid hang on to his dad’s shirt, then to one of the ropes wailing pitiably and pleading not to be thrown into the pool. After hurling the kid the dad looked at the other parents triumphantly. I shudder to imagine what that poor kid might feel about swimming in a pool again.

I expected dads to be more intimidating towards their kids but I noticed that moms also toe the same line. Everyday I see a mom, her face in a permanent scowl, snarling at her two small kids when they refuse to do what the coach asks them to do. I wonder if kids feel any different seeing this tyrannical side of their parents. I think it has something to do with the other parents. Parents of scared kids might have a point to prove to other parents at the pool. The kids jump into the pool more out of fear of further punishment at home. I’ve actually heard a parent (a mom, incidentally) threaten her six or seven year old daughter that she would get a hiding once they got home if she did not get into the pool. I guess that kid will never enjoy swimming again.

Yesterday a different dad threw his reluctant kid into the water and I was surprised by the kid’s reaction. He was older, maybe eight or nine years old. He had tears in his eyes as he hung on to the pool side after emerging from the water. There was a look of pure loathing in the kids face as he screamed at the father. I would hate to have my kid do that to me.