The "Embarrassing Slide" Story

It was an ordinary day. My mom was taking my brother Steve and me to Brookside. Brookside is a community swimming pool located along the Old Harrisburg Pike, right next to Longs Park. Brookside was opened in 1914 and was a segregated swimming pool. At first it was one large pool, but was doubled in size in 1926 and the name was changed to Brookside Twin Pools. The father of one of my 6th grade friends, Biffie D., owns Brookside so I get to see quite a few of my friends when we go swimming. The one pool is divided in half and has one shallow end and one end that is about five feet deep. Not supposed to dive in this pool. The other pool is my favorite because it has a huge sliding board at the one end which has water that travels up a hose and shoots out at the top to help lubricate the stainless slide. I loved going down the slide, but mom wasn't too keen about me using it. Must have been about 40 feet high and you had to climb a metal ladder to get to the top. Nothing to keep you from falling off the ladder. Back in the 50s, rules and regulations weren't as stringent as they are today. Fear of being sued was minimal and parents were expected to be responsible for the behavior of their children. Brookside had two locker rooms, one for females and one for males. They also had a snack bar for food and drinks which was always a busy place. Well, today my mom is sitting by the pool with the slide watching Steve play in the shallow water. She told me I could use the slide since most of my friends were using it also. Part way down the slide was a joint in the metal sliding board which joined the top and bottom parts of the slide. Never felt it when you went down the slide, but you knew it was there as you traveled over it. The water was about four feet deep at the bottom of the slide and some people would slide down on their stomach. Great fun! I spent the morning on the slide and then we took a break for lunch with food from the snack bar. I think mom just wanted me to take a break or maybe it was her that wanted a break from having to watch the two of us in the water. And ....... as the old wives tale goes, you had to wait an hour after eating before going back in the water. How stupid was that. Well, the hour has passed and I head for the slide with my friends. Mom yelled to me to come over to her. She turned me around and told me I did something to my swim trunks. They were starting to get a tear in them. No clue what from. Told me to be careful. Tried the stomach and back methods of coming down the slide and then sat down for the next try. As soon as I hit the joint in the stainless slide, I knew why my pants looked torn. I felt something sharp! Seems I wasn't the only one who had the tears in their swim trunks. A small piece of metal was working its way loose on the board and tearing every one's suits. Ripped my suit the whole way through. Hey, what 12 year old back in the late 50s wanted all their friends to see their butt? Certainly not me. So our day at Brookside was finished, but so was quite a few others who had towels wrapped around them for the same reason. Hopefully it will be fixed by tomorrow. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - pix is from the 20s and I'm not that old, but at least it shows you the twin pools and the suit tearing slide.