After six decades of service, the Streamland Pool has come to an end. This past week, I got to visit with the guy on the jackhammer that was digging it out in 1966, Steele Harmon. He could still remember what that felt like.
I had no idea, but Streamland Pool was going to give me a chance to do a "rebuild" before I even became a head football coach.
Spring of 1986, Jim Manners was selling cars with my Dad at Wade Motor Company. He was also the President of the Streamland Pool Club. They needed a pool manager and a lifeguard. They also had a problem. The teenagers would take over the pool and the little kids would have to sit on the side. He made it clear that he was hiring me to clean up that problem.
This was my kind of assignment. Give me a mission. Tell me what you want done. But, don't tell me how to do it. Let me be myself and figure out the best approach.
To say the problem was attacked would be an understatement. I was getting paid to protect those little kids and to make sure they got to swim. On a scale of 1 to 10, in completing my mission, I would give myself a 10.
Now, in being diplomatic and kind... the WAY that I went about my mission, probably a 2. If you listen to our podcast, you would know that Chuck Smith is critical of me in that my diplomacy and tact are subpar. He is correct. Too often, just because I believe my cause is right, I don't care a whole lot about other people's feelings or how I say what I say. Now, I am really trying to do better in that department. In the summer of 1986, I was 21. And, often, young males are not real smart in how they do their business. I was certainly one of those guys.
These teenagers were pretty easy to handle after some of my experiences with drunk golfers at Bright Leaf.
The Day I Almost Got My Tail Kicked, BAD, at Bright Leaf
A few "highlights"....
1-One of our adult members was a prominent teacher in the community. I got after her for having food on the pool deck, a rule violation. Man... she got MAD! She let me have it. Told me there was no way I was going to make it in public schools. Now, she was CORRECT that I handled that poorly. But, in May I will be completing my 41st year in public schools.
2-The pool board would have their meetings in the corner, near the road, down behind the pool pump. One night, the parents of the teenagers formed a long line to complain about me that stretched up to where I was sitting as the lifeguard. They blasted me and the pool board, repeatedly, during that meeting. But, the pool board was so happy that the little kids were getting to swim, they didn't say a word to me.
3- That summer, often, the teenagers would come to the pool, see me, turn around and leave.
The summer of 1986 there was alot of weeping, gnashing of teeth, hostility and anger. By summer of 1987 and 1988, smooth sailing. Everyone knew what to expect and accepted the way we would do our business. I would like to think, by then, that EVERYONE enjoyed their day at Streamland Pool, the teenagers included.
And, that job was a huge blessing! My hourly rate was pretty low, but I got 60 plus hours a week. I was the best bathroom / shower guy cleaner in the USA. Take a squeeze bottle of Mr. Clean. Throw it all over the walls, sinks, toilets, you name it. Get out the water hose and rinse it off. Sparkling clean! You could eat your lunch off the bathroom floors at Streamland Pool.
I can't wait to walk in the doors at Anderson County HS Monday morning. Fired up about my Mission and will do my best to be diplomatic & kind while working with others. But, if I show up w/ no shirt, a whistle around my neck, and my floppy hat, you will know it is ON!
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