User: NatureBoy

To "Dodder:"

Sorry for such a late reply, but "better late than never." And in your case, you DESERVE a fitting and suitable reply, so here it is.

"No such thing as being overly strict with boys?" Yeah, that's what all the abusive parents like you say when their local Child Protective Services Agency finally gets wind of what's going on. That's when the cops jail the unfit parent(s) and take the kids completely away to put them into foster care, sometimes for keeps. Just because you very likely had a lousy Dad way back THEN, is never, ever a valid excuse for being one yourself NOW.

"Whether you [the father] wear a shirt yourself is irrelevant" means "do as I say, not as I do." That's one of the best definitions around of a true hypocrite. Just exactly like saying "Don't you dare ever let me catch you drinking alcohol!" while sloshing down a double martini yourself. I now know that most kids can see through that kind of bull-excrement far, far better than most adults.

And there is a world of difference between "taking charge" WITH LOVE which is an essential part of being a REAL parent, versus "taking charge" with all the finesse and caring of Adolf Hitler or Osama Bin-Laden.

So of course to a so-called parent like you, any highly skilled, caring, experienced advice from any REAL expert at such matters, like eBob1 and a few others here, WOULD sound like a "ridiculous thing."

What would instead be ridiculous were it not exactly on-target here is your MisterPoll username, as you clearly never first looked it up in the dictionary. To save you the trouble, Webster's International Unabridged III Edition defines "dodder" as follows: "1. to tremble or shake (as from weakness or age) : become enfeebled. 2. to progress feebly and unsteadily."

Skeptical Ron:

What was your alcohol blood level when you wrote that post? Or did you black that out too along with whatever else you did or said on that same day?

Sorry for such a long post, but it's time someone set the record straight on this subject, with truthful and objective FACTS of biology, marine sanitation, medical verities, and many interviews with truthful adults and kids, as well as with swimming pool maintenance professionals.

Since Jantzen Corporation invented modern in-ground swimming pools around 1920, not much has changed, including the chlorination and filtration systems. It isn't romantic to think of a lovely shimmering blue pool as a big tank of disinfectant to swim in, but that's what it is. It has to be, to kill germs from countless sources, and to biodegrade and filter out sweat. Everyone sweats in the water, even standing still. Without treatment, the ingredients in sweat, plus other contaminants, will feed microscopic plant life called algae, which turns the water a nasty green or black. Nobody wants to swim in yucky smelly green stew!

Urine is chemically related to sweat, and is even more rapidly biodegraded by the same chlorination and filtration process. That is, pee does NOT float around in the water; it is very quickly neutralized and removed. This happens even faster in outdoor pools where oxygen in air and UV rays in sunlight greatly help to biodegrade urine (and sweat).

Most important, human urine is STERILE (no germs in it), as any medical textbook will verify. This fully meets the definition of the word "sanitary." In fact it is perfectly sanitary to urinate into any pool which is properly chlorinated and filtered. This may be esthetically and culturally displeasing (the "EEEEUUUW! YUCK! NASTY!" factor), but it is still biochemically true. If this is hard for you to accept, we can only ask that you try your best to open your mind, to see beyond cultural conditioning or parentally-taught inhibitions, to the objective scientific facts and completely harmless nature of the almost universal practice of urinating into swimming pools.

Conveniently and gratefully emptying your achingly-full adult-size bladder directly into a pool will add a pint or two of clean, pure, sterile water, plus about a teaspoon or so of non-toxic, non-infectious worn-out organic molecules, mostly nitrogen based, that will disappear very quickly. By comparison, you will sweat all the while, and in far greater volume. Sweat is not clean or sanitary. It contains bacteria, plus far stronger and smelly and slightly toxic organic chemicals, notably urea which requires regular and vigilant filtration to remove from the water.

Not all swimming pools are properly maintained, though. The real problem is NEVER from everyone peeing in the pool! It's all those unkilled germs from other sources, which can and do cause everything from ear infections to pinkeye to cellulitis. Unclean pools quickly fill up with not only sweat and dirt and mucus and saliva and earwax and athlete's foot or ringworm fungus, plus heavy unwiped fecal matter seeping out from inside swimsuits, but also hair straighteners (the worst chemicals of all!), hairspray, deodorants, skin cremes, moisturizers, lotions and other cosmetics, and especially sunblock that some persons apply as thick as frosting on a cake. All of these add germs, bacteria, fungi, yeast spores, organic oils, fatty acids, carbohydrates and stearates which create a perfect growth medium for more germs and algae. There is no better recipe for creating an instant inland swamp! If the water is cloudy, or has an oil slick on it, or smells notably sour, or strongly of chlorine or ammonia, these are positive indicators that it is filthy! If you want to keep your health, your ONLY two choices are to loudly demand that the pool owners chlorinate and filter the water properly, or else definitely find a cleaner and safer swimming pool for you and your loved ones to swim.

Most of us first pee in the pool as children, either out of desperation or youthful curiosity, and seem to have definite feelings about it at first, varying from guilt or embarrassment, to secretly-enjoyable "naughtiness", to "So what?" Most of us also then continue this habit throughout all our adult years, though few adults who do so are honest enough to admit that they routinely pee in the pool and enjoy doing it -- but almost all of us really do it. :-)

Given the true facts, it's time once and for all for ALL thinking persons to discount and discard all the silly urban legends that is somehow "wrong" or "dirty" to pee in the pool. Most especially, it is time to openly assert that informed, caring, open-minded parents (and this writer is one) would be doing their children a loving and lasting kindness by clearly teaching them to pee in the pool, and initially encouraging them to do so before each pool visit. Kids also need to be told to do so discreetly. This means to simply and casually urinate full-strength right into the inside of whatever they are wearing in the water, and never trying to partly undress underwater. That is, try not to wet your pants on land, but you can always wet your pants any old time when swimming. Just a few steps through the water afterwards will instantly rinse both swimmer and swimsuit spotlessly clean.

Before changing into swimwear or leaving for the pool, it can greatly help to playfully invite children (but NEVER, NEVER force them!!!!) to laughingly dare to see if they can try to skip peeing at the time, even with a nearly-full bladder, holding it in until after getting into the water below their waist, and then enjoying the delightful relief of squirting all of it right into their swimsuit. This and similar tactics can quickly help children get into the habit of peeing in the pool easily, happily and naturally, as part of normal toilet behavior, without any undue feelings of guilt, shame or "wrongdoing." It's also a fact that learning this behavior from a loving Mom and Dad will virtually eliminate the chance that this might become a sexual fetish with them in later years.

It's never too late to encourage kids to begin learning to do this, even after their toddler years, or even well into their teens. If you've already taught your kids otherwise, there's no time like the present to caringly present a change in attitudes about encouraging them to pee in the pool. You'll help them to form a positive, realistic, sanitary, convenient and even enjoyable approach to something every one of us has to do, and they will respect you for it.

Helping children to form this harmless habit at any age is not just because it's easier and more natural for them to do. It is WAY, WAY SAFER for kids to pee in the pool rather than risking a bad fall while running over a slippery concrete deck, to get to and from restrooms which are often so filthy as to be a major health hazard to anyone in bare feet or bare skin anywhere! Come to think of it, maybe that's another good reason why most adults regularly pee in the pool too! :-)

Drew:

Wear it, dude, semi-see-thru fanny and all.

Somewhere around 2003, 2004 I saw a guy who worked out at the local Salvation Army fitness center pool and he wore a style I've seen before (and tried once and disliked 'cause it's too tight where it should be loose). It is International Male's so called "Greek Bikini" (actually has a Rio-style triangle back), in yellow, or their greenish-yellow called "Sun" I think. Anyhow, he had a tatoo all the way across one butt cheek, and half of it was outside the swimsuit, and half was inside it. The point is you could see the part inside the swimsuit just as clear as the part outside it. NOBODY cared about it or told him to change styles or anything. And this is at the fitness center run by the Salvation Army -- and if you think the YMCA is strict because of that third letter in its acronym, you haven't seen strict until you've gone to a Salvation Army facility. The Salvation Army took on its name because it takes am aggressively MILITANT no-holds-barred approach and isn't afraid to take anyone's inventory out loud if it offends their sense of moral dignity.

So, if this other dude could wear a thing like that at the Sally Ann (street slang) pool, you could probably wear your white swimsuit standing up in a convertible in the Fourth of July parade. :-)

Donald:

I thought the answer to that was OBVIOUS. You take it off while you are out in deep enough water, and then wear it around your neck sort of like a bandana. That way, it can't get in your way and it can't get lost. Try it sometime.