I bathed with a bevy of beauties yesterday but was unaware of what was beneath their swimsuits until each exposed themselves publicly.

     Now, don’t assume this Blog has gone X-rated. Its focus is to capture moments in life and not appeal to any prurient interest.

     Manly Prowess Shrinks in Water Aerobics

Water aerobics looked like a piece of cake; I thought when I had decided to join in the exercise. I had just finished swimming 36 laps — a half mile — and I felt a little cocky.  Plus, I thought I could show off my “manly prowess,” a type of masculinity forged by war (combat infantryman) and tempered in courtroom battles the past 20 years as a criminal defense attorney.

     Water aerobics looked like a piece of cake, I thought when I had decided to join in the exercise. I had just finished swimming 36 laps — a half mile — and I felt a little cocky.  Plus, I thought I could show off my “manly prowess,” a type of masculinity forged by war (combat infantryman) and tempered in courtroom battles the past 20 years as a criminal defense attorney.

 Boy, was I ever proved wrong!

     It may look easy, but following an instructor who pushes you to move and exercise all parts of your body can be anything but fun. I struggled to keep up but would not let anyone see my difficulties. I believed that in that painful moment, I was representing all “mankind” in the water. I could not allow the “weaker“ sex to see one of my kind — my gender— “sweat it out.” I would ache all over after this bout in the water, but I could never let any woman see that, and to have them possibly feel superior to me or my fellow man!

What a Dope. A Dope on a Rope.

     There were people in the pool far more gifted than I was, plus many who were in far better shape than I. Younger too! (Some, apparently of retirement age, swam circles around me in doing the exercises. Never assume a person up in age is as old as you think. Or as out of shape as you are!)

     The exercise came to an end. Finally. I slowly left the pool and emerged near the hot tub as several women in different shapes and sizes, as well as ages, took seats in the bubbling spa.

20 Questions on Naming Your Job Game

     Joining them, I wondered who these women were outside of the gym. So, being a child at heart, (and did I tell you I was the only guy there?) I engaged with them, challenging them to play a version of “20 questions.” Guess what each of us did for a living became the game. I suggested we be given three chances to “name that job.”

     “She’s a dancer,” one woman said of the petite redhead, whose hair remained in perfect shape despite the hot vapors of the tub. Wrong. Turned out she worked for the state of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Welfare, and helped to determine eligibility for financial aid. I guessed the role played by one, an African American woman who said that she indeed worked for the City of Philadelphia. No, not a cop or a truant officer or in the probation or parole departments. She served as a correctional officer in the city’s prison system!

     The second redhead (how did I end up with two in one pool, I’ll never know) was coyer and appeared to be trying to evade our discussion and leave the tub when we gently applied some peer pressure in her direction. None guessed her occupation. She worked as a commercial pilot!

CEO of Ken Crest Foundation Had Joined Us

     We went through a long list of possibilities with the lone brunette in the water. She hinted that her job was similar to the president or the CEO of a company. A non-profit company, she added. One that dealt with kids as well as adults: Ken Crest was the answer. She was a leader of the largest provider of community-based services for children, youth, and adults with developmental disabilities in southeastern Pennsylvania!

     We eventually focused on the short-haired blonde. This young woman had helped me during the exercise period, kindly overlooking my inability to follow instructions as she showed me the proper way of performing a given task. She was a real saint. I had thanked her for her courtesy yet ended up paying her back with the most unusual guess for an occupation, one that brought a lot of laughter, but could have been at the expense of a person with a lesser degree of kindness.

     “Lady of the Night” was the suggestion I offered as her possible career path. My tongue, of course, was firmly in my cheek.

    It was meant to gain a Laugh. It did. Loud and Hearty.

Laughter Closes Up when Job Title Revealed

     But the laughter subsided, and the joke was on me when she told us the type of work she did for a living.

     She serves as the Pastor of a United Church of Christ in nearby Chestnut Hill.

A Minister, For Christ’s Sake!

     How I get myself in such hot waters, I’ll never know . . .