There are these two guys hanging around a pool. One says to the other,
‘I feel I can swim competitively, you know, maybe try for a medal or something.’
The other guy goes, ‘Of course you can, I can even help you. I know a bit about passing water and I can you know, pass the towels, keep time even.’
The first guy, the swimmer says ‘I shall pay you, naturally. My family is not without the means.’
Other guy, ‘Of course, of course you will. Indeed they are.’
Vernie: This goes on for a few years. The swimmer making the laps, lap after innumerable agonising lap. Poolside, there’s the walking towel, who by virtue of his robust voice box is beginning to sound very much like the professional coach. So what do you know. One day the swimmer wins a medal. The other guy uses the opportunity to talk about dedication, commitment to hard work, and the importance of a work ethic – that sort of thing. His credit rises too.
Time passes, not too much, and the swimmer continues working. Swimming. The medals come. With them, more recognition. The Voice in the meantime goes for public office. Where he also did rise - further. Where else could he talk and get paid as much for rhetoric on dedication to sport, commitment to personal goals and the importance of a work ethic? He adds to the mantra. Goes on about the virtues of personal sacrifice and community leadership.
The big games come. It goes. The swimmer has not achieved all his goals. He is in some eyes, a failed athlete, a potential role model lost to the media machine. He will slip back into the bowels of the family business. Once there his affinity for hard work, his sense of commitment and his desire to succeed will no doubt serve him and his family well. As it should. It’s what sport is for.
The Voice in the meantime has taken the mantra of leadership to heart. These days he can be heard far and wide, loud and clear. The moral here is that leaders appear only after the people start moving. Maybe the best way for a sick old man like me to escape the cacophony generated by the T&T sport movement is get into a pool and make some laps. And then follow it with lap after lap after lap. It’s could be what that poor swimmer did to escape the urgings of his poolside advisor.