When I read the article about the Valley Swim Club today, I had to rub my eyes and blink several times to make sure I was reading the date correctly. I even double checked all my sources to make sure it wasn’t a hoax.

I thought perhaps an old newspaper article from the 1960s or 1970s had been mistaken for a current news story and circulated around the internet. No such luck. This week, in the year 2009, it appears a daycare group had its pool membership canceled because the kids were black.

Current events

Let’s start at the beginning, when a daycare called Creative Steps, Inc. paid $1,950 to the Valley Swim Club in Northeast Philadelphia. Alethea Wright of Creative Steps, Inc., says the daycare paid its membership in full, in advance, for the whole summer. But Creative Steps turned out to be just a short-term money lender for the Valley Swim Club, as the daycare’s money has now been refunded.

The $1,950 guaranteed that the 60 kids that attended Creative Steps would be able to go swimming at the Valley Swim Club every Monday for 90 minutes. It appears the club changed its mind after one swimming session. From a Philadelphia Fox News affiliate:

“I get a phone call from the board chair saying, you’re no longer going to be able to swim here,” said Alethea Wright of Creative Steps, Inc.

She says the board president of the Valley Club didn’t explain why. But she says the reason was obvious to her.

…

The president of the Valley Club, John Duesler, told Fox 29 by phone the club “underestimated the impact the children would have.” He said they “fundamentally changed the atmosphere” at the pool.

A Philadelphia NBC News affiliate has a few more details to add to the story:

“I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor.

…

“When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool,” Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. “The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately.”

Complexion just a bad choice of words?

The NBC News affiliate also reports that Duesler said in a written statement that, “There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club.”

This is the same guy insisting that his reasons for kicking out out the group had nothing to do with race. I mean, I understand that the word “complexion” has multiple meanings. However, if this guy is trying to say that the reason he terminated the club’s membership has nothing to do with skin, what a very poor choice of words. Or what a telling Freudian slip.

The first son is a swimmer

It’s going to take a payday loan to get Tommy onto the swimming team. I bet you never knew just how expensive swimming can be. We had our first taste of this when our eldest son, Jason, decided that he wanted to take up serious swimming. Training 3 times a week means 3 entries to the pool every week, gas back and forth, swimsuits, plus a variety of extras that add up very quickly.

Jason soon became a strong and fast swimmer and was selected for his age-group team at the local club. Now he participates in swimming galas and tournaments regularly. Each entry costs between $10 and $50 depending on where it is and its competition level.

The second son is a swimmer

Second son Jeremy watched Jason’s progress with envy and finally couldn’t restrain himself. I met his request to join the swimming club with mixed feelings, pride at raising two swimmers and misgivings at the costs I could see looming on the horizon. Anyway, one way or another we managed the extra expenses and a few months later Jeremy too was on a team and racing every weekend. More entry fees and incidental costs and a lot of gas costs carpooling all over town.

The third son is a swimmer

Then came the Olympic Games and my family of swimmers sat glued to the TV screen watching Michael Phelps working his magic. “I wanna swim too!” yelled Tommy, aged 8, in great excitement. “I can be faster than Phelps!” I had no choice but to turn to payday loans for help with the initial costs.

The costs of educating the kids seem to be astronomical this year; have things gone up in price so much? The cost of gas certainly has spiraled and Ann is in the car every day taking or fetching from one swimming pool or another. Of course Murphy’s Law operates smoothly and efficiently so all 3 boys swim at different times and at different pools. We’ve cut down on other expenses in order to pay for all the swimming tabs, as we call them. This means very little eating out, no shows and only an occasional movie. I’ve used a payday loan a couple of times to help when there have been other expenses to deal with and that has worked out very well.

A Payday Loan to help

The Payday Loan system is great. I make the application on the internet and in no time the loan is approved and the money is in my account. So far I have always managed to pay it back in the following month. I am making other small savings as well which all help. The boys are old enough to be without a babysitter now, so we are saving those costs. The price of gas has finally leveled out and according to the papers it will start falling soon. That too will help.

This is what raising a family is about. Ann and I derive a great deal of pleasure watching our sons’ progress and triumphs. We have made a new circle of friends from among the parents of the swimming crowd. We enjoy our swimming weekends and swimming parties. Most of all, I am relaxed knowing that a payday loan will always be there to help me over a sticky patch.