I Swim Like A Girl? Thanks!

Bad Behavior, Karma/Comeuppance, Parents/Guardians, Pool, USA, Washington | Right | July 30, 2018

(At the pool where I work, 90% of the staff are women. We have “parent-teacher conferences” twice during our lesson sessions to tell the parents how the kids are doing. The two kids involved in this are brothers, and the oldest is very clearly hydrophobic. After three days, he finally gets in the water, and I consider it a huge victory. The kids are brought to each lesson by their dad.)

Me: “[Student #1] is progressing well, but [Student #2] finally got in and swam a little today, instead of just putting his feet in! I’m very proud of him for working through that so quickly; he—”

Dad: *interrupting* “He wouldn’t have taken so long if he wasn’t such a girl!”

Me: *at a loss for words, considering I’m a woman* “I… That’s not the issue here.”

Dad: “Yes, it is! You need to just throw them in the deep end and let them figure it out! I tried doing that already and he almost s*** himself!”

Me: “Sir, this is a family environment; please don’t swear.”

Dad: “I’ll do whatever I d*** well please! If my kids weren’t such little b****es, this wouldn’t be a problem!”

(At this point, the dad is looming over me, with only the bar of the pool separating us. I’m an almost six-foot-tall woman, but he still has a few inches on me, and I’m starting to feel unsafe. One of my coworkers notices and comes to stand next to me. This coworker is also a woman, but 6’4″, and she was a state champion thrower for our high school track team, and has maintained the arm muscles after graduating.)

Coworker: “You do realize you’re yelling at a state champion swimmer, right? Saying your children swim like ‘girls’ is a compliment around here. See that board?” *points at the school record swimming board on the wall* “See that name that’s on there a half dozen times? That’s your kids’ swimming teacher. Now, lower your voice, or I will remove you myself.”

(My coworker doesn’t wait for an answer and just leaves.)

Dad: *much quieter* “I’m sorry for yelling. What were you saying before I interrupted you?”

(I never had an issue with the dad again, and just recently, my boss from the pool emailed to tell me the eldest son has joined the swimming team, because he wants his name on the board “with his favorite teacher.” Glad to see the kids didn’t get their dad’s s***ty personality!)

This story is part of our Parent-Teacher-Conference Roundup! This is the last story in the roundup, but we have plenty of others you might enjoy!