5 ms·

I don't let adults go swimming without a buddy.

by c22 3y ago

goatlover 3y ago
How do you stop adults from going swimming alone?
- c22 3y ago
  I go with them.
  - babyshake 3y ago
    Assuming we're not swimming in a particularly dangerous reef or something, I'd find that annoying if I thought you were tagging along for the sake of my safety.
  - livueta 3y ago
    Now that's a wholesome and productive attitude. I think that's a great example of what I think of as the distinction between safetyism and preparedness: the former is all about no fun allowed in the presence of any level of risk whatsoever, with no rational consideration of likelihood and mitigating factors, while the latter is about doing fun stuff while taking reasonable procautions to mitigate realistic dangers. It's not going backpacking at all vs. taking a first aid class and bringing the ten essentials.
    - watwut 3y ago
      I would find OP massively annoying if I wanted to go to swim and he would force himself on it all the time.
      - livueta 3y ago
        Having grown up on the ocean, I'll admit I assumed it meant open-water swimming or some similar context with nontrivial risks that can get you regardless of how good you are, like crazy riptides. If we're talking the pool then yeah, somewhat different.
  - vasco 3y ago
    If you walk by a beach and someone is swimming alone you jump in? This sounds crazy I know multiple people that swim alone in the sea multiple times per week as their sport for many years.
    - c22 3y ago
      I'm not a control freak, if a full grown adult really wants to swim alone of course I can't stop them. But I've seen and heard about enough freak events that I cannot condone it. All it takes is one little stroke, muscle spasm, or unexpected undertow to get you into a really dangerous situation. Humans just aren't built for the water the same way fish are. If I was walking on the beach and I saw someone swimming alone I probably would hang out in the area and keep a passive eye on them until they got out. I wouldn't feel the need to get in the water unless I saw that they needed help. You'd be surprised at how rarely this happens, though. Usually there are lots of people at the beach.
      - vasco 3y ago
        In my corner of the world that isn't rare at all. Our whole coast is beaches and if it's winter time all the beaches will be completely empty. My friends swim all year round and a couple of them before work, so almost 100% of the time they swim, there's nobody around. Also having grown-up on the coast, since I was a child I've always been in the water with all the other kids, without parents around, never had any life-threatening cramp, never seen it happen either. Maybe I've just been lucky and you've been unlucky, since it's all anecdata anyway - but it's strange to me how it can both be so jarring for you to do it alone, and jarring for me to be afraid of doing it alone. For me it's like you said it's dangerous to walk in the park by yourself because a tree branch can fall on your head. It's true but I will eyeroll almost unconsciously.
        c22 3y ago
        You might roll your eyes but I think there is a real qualitative difference in risk between walking in the park and swimming in the ocean. People walk through the park all the time, so if a tree branch does fall on your head there is a good chance someone might happen upon you before you are dead. And while you are waiting there, unconscious and hemorrhaging blood into your cranial cavity, at least you will be breathing in air instead of brackish seawater. I have lived 15 minutes from the ocean my entire life and I have never gone swimming in it alone. I'm not an absolutist either, each situation has to be assessed on its own merits. If the kids are all strong swimmers and they want to go to the pool without an adult, that's fine with me. I might even let them go together into the sea depending on which beach they're headed to. But if they're taking the 3-year-old in water wings out to the open ocean I'm going to be tagging along. Likewise, if you want to walk alone in the park I think you'll probably be all right, but if you're hiking 10 miles out into the wilderness I'm going to strongly suggest you bring a buddy, whatever your age.
  - Ma8ee 3y ago
    I did that once with an acquaintance that insisted on swimming across a not that small lake. The problem was that she was a much better swimmer than I was, and I almost exhausted myself trying to keep up.
  - rufus_foreman 3y ago
    >> I go with them. Awesome. We're going to the quarry, and we're going to jump off the cliff over 10 feet of rock into the water. Bring a case of Meister Brau.

I don't let adults go swimming without a buddy.

by c22 3y ago

I don't let adults go swimming without a buddy.

goatlover 3y ago

How do you stop adults from going swimming alone?

c22 3y ago
I go with them.
- babyshake 3y ago
  Assuming we're not swimming in a particularly dangerous reef or something, I'd find that annoying if I thought you were tagging along for the sake of my safety.
- livueta 3y ago
  Now that's a wholesome and productive attitude. I think that's a great example of what I think of as the distinction between safetyism and preparedness: the former is all about no fun allowed in the presence of any level of risk whatsoever, with no rational consideration of likelihood and mitigating factors, while the latter is about doing fun stuff while taking reasonable procautions to mitigate realistic dangers. It's not going backpacking at all vs. taking a first aid class and bringing the ten essentials.
  - watwut 3y ago
    I would find OP massively annoying if I wanted to go to swim and he would force himself on it all the time.
    - livueta 3y ago
      Having grown up on the ocean, I'll admit I assumed it meant open-water swimming or some similar context with nontrivial risks that can get you regardless of how good you are, like crazy riptides. If we're talking the pool then yeah, somewhat different.
- vasco 3y ago
  If you walk by a beach and someone is swimming alone you jump in? This sounds crazy I know multiple people that swim alone in the sea multiple times per week as their sport for many years.
  - c22 3y ago
    I'm not a control freak, if a full grown adult really wants to swim alone of course I can't stop them. But I've seen and heard about enough freak events that I cannot condone it. All it takes is one little stroke, muscle spasm, or unexpected undertow to get you into a really dangerous situation. Humans just aren't built for the water the same way fish are. If I was walking on the beach and I saw someone swimming alone I probably would hang out in the area and keep a passive eye on them until they got out. I wouldn't feel the need to get in the water unless I saw that they needed help. You'd be surprised at how rarely this happens, though. Usually there are lots of people at the beach.
    - vasco 3y ago
      In my corner of the world that isn't rare at all. Our whole coast is beaches and if it's winter time all the beaches will be completely empty. My friends swim all year round and a couple of them before work, so almost 100% of the time they swim, there's nobody around. Also having grown-up on the coast, since I was a child I've always been in the water with all the other kids, without parents around, never had any life-threatening cramp, never seen it happen either. Maybe I've just been lucky and you've been unlucky, since it's all anecdata anyway - but it's strange to me how it can both be so jarring for you to do it alone, and jarring for me to be afraid of doing it alone. For me it's like you said it's dangerous to walk in the park by yourself because a tree branch can fall on your head. It's true but I will eyeroll almost unconsciously.
      - c22 3y ago
        You might roll your eyes but I think there is a real qualitative difference in risk between walking in the park and swimming in the ocean. People walk through the park all the time, so if a tree branch does fall on your head there is a good chance someone might happen upon you before you are dead. And while you are waiting there, unconscious and hemorrhaging blood into your cranial cavity, at least you will be breathing in air instead of brackish seawater. I have lived 15 minutes from the ocean my entire life and I have never gone swimming in it alone. I'm not an absolutist either, each situation has to be assessed on its own merits. If the kids are all strong swimmers and they want to go to the pool without an adult, that's fine with me. I might even let them go together into the sea depending on which beach they're headed to. But if they're taking the 3-year-old in water wings out to the open ocean I'm going to be tagging along. Likewise, if you want to walk alone in the park I think you'll probably be all right, but if you're hiking 10 miles out into the wilderness I'm going to strongly suggest you bring a buddy, whatever your age.
- Ma8ee 3y ago
  I did that once with an acquaintance that insisted on swimming across a not that small lake. The problem was that she was a much better swimmer than I was, and I almost exhausted myself trying to keep up.
- rufus_foreman 3y ago
  >> I go with them. Awesome. We're going to the quarry, and we're going to jump off the cliff over 10 feet of rock into the water. Bring a case of Meister Brau.