The Fish are Still Out of the Water

We are now complete with our second week of practice. But I am uncertain what sport we are practicing. I am trying to coach the athletes in swimming and water polo. Both of these sports require water but there has not been any in the pool. We are now reaching the limits of how I can train the athletes on dry land.

Colonel Safi has repeatedly reaffirmed that the pipe is being fixed. He said that the contracting office is working the issue. Progress was made one day and the pool was actually being filled with water. To my dismay, the pipe just wanted to tease me and only fill it a few feet high before it broke again.

Frustrated, I went to the contacting office to see what I could do to help fix the pool. I explained the situation and how important it was to fill the pool with water to a very well dressed man who indicated he could help. After listening to my plight, he told me that the pipe to the pool was fine and it was not a contracting problem, it was the problem of whoever built the pool. There was no contract for the pool and therefore it could not be worked on. Very frustrated but not yet defeated, I asked if there was anyone else I could speak with at a higher level. He hesitatingly said yes and brought me to his boss’ office. Come to find out, the nicely dressed man was just a laborer who was on his way to a wedding party.

I explained to manager about our situation with the pool and how I needed his expert assistance. He told me the same story and said that he has already done more than he was supposed to and that his hands were tied. The issue was with the connection from their pipe to the pipe (Which was really a rubber hose) for the pool. Not content with his answer, I asked him what the solution would be to get it fixed. The gentleman in a very nice tone told me that the pipe would be fixed in a few weeks at the earliest.

Very frustrated, I asked him why it would take a few weeks. The nice gentleman could not provide me an answer. With this in hand, I spent the next 10 minutes convincing him to fix the pipe as a personal favor to me (Even though he had only known me for about 20 minutes of his life). He agreed and said that he will be very happy once the pool is filled with water.

Happy with his answer but worried about the pool actually being filled with water, I walked back to work. I look forward to Saturday’s practice, which will hopefully be in the pool.