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Mental Health and Swimming During Covid

swimmer451

My masters swim group has aquired a new "permanent" member.  He is a transplant to Florida from the Chicagoland area. He has very strong far right political beliefs and has no inhibitions about voicing them to anybody that is around. Several times this past winter when many of us would show up in the pre-dawn hours for swim practice, he would be out in the dark parking lot yelling at us to "put our diapers on".  Yes, he is a groan man standing out in a dark parking lot yelling at early arriving swimmers that are wearing masks to "put our diapers on".  I mentioned this to coach and he said he is familiar with this guy and that the man is harmless.  He just has strong opinions.  I expressed my concern that this guy is verbally aggressive and I wondered outloud that I hope he doesn't have a gun in his car.  The response that coach recommended and that I have been using is to ignore him. My guess is, between the pandemic and the current political environment in the USA, it is probably safe to say that in the past 12 months nearly everyone has been stressed. But all the same,, I wonder, what kind of adult does this behavior?  Is he sane?  Is ignoring him really the best approach to take? Does he have a gun in his car?  I am putting this out to the general masters swimming community.

Parents

  • This is a time where overly opinionated persons have their platform both on the right and left.  I agree with most of the commentary here but often times when you have a one-on-one conversation with people like this sometimes they see that, on a personal level, you cannot be irked and they may come to respect you.  You may then say, as a friend, (or not), that you respect his opinions but the opinions he's presenting in the manner he's doing so is unwelcome.  I learned from a former co-worker to, "kill them with kindness."  If, however, this person is a narcissist or sociopath, then yes, just ignore him and tell him that you can't wear a diaper as it would prevent you from peeing in his lane.  

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  • This is a time where overly opinionated persons have their platform both on the right and left.  I agree with most of the commentary here but often times when you have a one-on-one conversation with people like this sometimes they see that, on a personal level, you cannot be irked and they may come to respect you.  You may then say, as a friend, (or not), that you respect his opinions but the opinions he's presenting in the manner he's doing so is unwelcome.  I learned from a former co-worker to, "kill them with kindness."  If, however, this person is a narcissist or sociopath, then yes, just ignore him and tell him that you can't wear a diaper as it would prevent you from peeing in his lane.  

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