The person swimming in the lane beside me impacts me more than politics.
And that’s on a national, state and local level.
I have plenty of opinions on the actions, policies and antics of the President, Congress and Supreme Court. The same goes for my state government and my local government agencies.
Occasionally, something they do affects me directly:
- Like many Americans, I received several stimulus checks during the pandemic via the Fed.
- State Taxes, Fees and Laws impact me to a nominal extent.
- Locally, I am directly impacted by construction projects, real estate taxes and the like.
But on a day-to-day basis, I am more affected by the waves made by the person swimming in the lane next to me.
- If he’s wearing fins and pushes off the wall aggressively, I am forced to adjust my breathing to avoid a mouthful of water.
- If he hangs out on the wall or is coughing up a lung, I turn my face in the opposite direction and move to the far side of my lane to maximize the distance between us.
- If he’s a “slapper” I try not to giggle underwater as I hear him smacking all the way down the lane beside me.
This is why I’ve made a conscious decision to not follow politics or pay much attention to the news. It’s sensationalism, speculation, bad acting and a poor substitute for entertainment. The more I tune in, the more I become angry, upset, worried, indignant or self-righteous. None of that is useful.
I get a much greater benefit from paying attention to my fellow swimmers at the pool so I can identify the smoothest strokers to swim beside.
As you can probably guess from my solo-by-choice lifestyle, my preference is to find a lane that has no swimmers on either side. Then I can swim like shark, cutting through the water and gracefully propelling myself across a surface as smooth as glass without paying attention to anything else.
Funny enough, my out-of-the-pool experience is much the same when I avoid political commentary, news and media.