Adults: Buy Yourself a Children’s Pool
The Mashable tech site recommends buying a kiddie pool . Not for children, but for yourself. As they point out, if you have a rooftop or a backyard, fifteen dollars , a garden hose, or a large bucket, then, baby, you have a pool. (They claim that you can also put a paddling pool on the fire escape. I cannot approve of this particular option.)
Your kiddie pool will quickly get messy and you will look like a 2009 hipster, but you will use far less water or space than an adult pool. You can fill it up in five minutes and empty it in one. You never have to learn how chlorine tablets work.
I would like to note one more great advantage: this is not a bathhouse. A bath, like a big coffee or a tweet, is always regrettable. This is because you expect the bathtub to feel like an expensive spa when in reality it is just a cool dip in your own mud with your neck stretched out. The bath is disappointing and the kiddie pool is not because:
- It’s outdoors where expectations are low. (Ask anyone who has breakfast at the sidewalk table.)
- It is needed for cooling, not heating. Water cools better than it warms up. This is well known.
- You are not trying to cleanse yourself.
- You should (probably should) keep your clothes on. It’s really cool to wear clothes in the water.
You can lie in it, or you can just dip your feet in it. You can drink beer in it. You can lie in it and then sit in the sun to dry out. The children’s pool is a natural air conditioner.
For a real trip, you can fill your kids pool with a substance other than water, like slime or spaghetti, which is probably a disappointment, but this one scene in Patch Adams made it look like an explosion. Only do this at the end of the season, when you never plan to fill the pool again. Take a photo.
So, if you have the privilege enough to own or rent an open-space home, live life to the fullest by purchasing and using a paddling pool. May even let the child in.
Hear Me: Buy A Kiddie Pool For Your Adult This Summer | Mashable