The challenge of multi-culturalism at the pool

Summer is officially here and we are enjoying it to the full. It's so nice being outdoors, not having to grab a coat when leaving the house and knowing that whatever the forecast is for the day, it will be hot. After all, Jonny and I are from the tropics and we feel most at home in the heat. What has been especially nice is enjoying the pool in the evenings after work, it's so relaxing. The pools are open until 8 pm every night and when we go, we feel like we are on vacation and our daily work stresses are washed away...

But interestingly, our pool experience has shown us the challenges of multi-culturalism... Yes, I'm proud to admit that Jonny likes to wear a speedo to go swimming! :-) He was brought up in Malaysia mainly wearing shorts, but several years ago he was converted to the speedo after going to Brazil, where most men wear them. I remember clearly that the first time he wore one he said "wow, it's just so much more comfortable!" However, we have recently become highly aware that wearing a speedo in this country, at least where we live, is not cool - definitely not. It first started with a comment from a friend last year who said "Yes, I enjoy the pool in my neighborhood but when the guy in the speedo arrives, I leave the pool!". To which I responded "Oh really, Jonny likes to wear speedos"... to which our friend smiled with a surprised and embarrassed look... And then, as Jonny recently walked by a group of teenage boys by the pool, we heard one of them say "Uhm, speedo..." I try to encourage Jonny by saying "you look like a professional swimmer in them!" :-)

But the good news is that for the first time yesterday, there was a "speedo buddy" at the pool! For once, Jonny was not alone and we were so happy with our new buddy that we asked him to take a photo of us in the pool! So in tribute to the speedo, here's the photo our new buddy took yesterday...

And here is Jonny being silly - though challenged by the speedo, not at all embarassed!

So, for any of our "non-speedo" friends who may come swimming with us in the near future, don't be shocked, you may just find that Jonny will wear his speedo! And if you are a "speedo buddy", do let us know since the club is still small. Yes, multi-culturalism makes our world interesting, but it does have its challenges...