Thursday, July 19, 2018

The Summer Of Jaws

     1975.....my girlfriend and I went to see JAWS.  It forever changed my summers.  1975 in particular but it's something that I do think about off and on when I'm out swimming in the ocean.  Just yesterday, this same friend and I went to our beautiful Long Island beach to enjoy a day off.  At one point, there were several helicopters flying low and slow.  Now, in our neck of the woods that could mean a lot of things.  Rich folk flying from NYC to their Hampton hideaway, bad traffic issues or missing boaters or swimmers.

     My girlfriend said that, according to her husband, that is how they look for sharks.  I honestly didn't think much about it until I saw the news when we got home.

Shark attacks two children at Long Island beach

     OMFG....everyone was ok, but definitely bitten by a shark.  And the news just kept replaying this one tasty (bad pun) tidbit:  "And a tooth was found in the boy's leg".   Again OMFG.   We were not at the same beach, but at the same ocean for goodness sakes.  I didn't go in past my waist, but neither did one of the victims.

     Suddenly, without warning, the voices in my head dulled and a very striking piece of music started playing in my head and it brought me way back to the summer of '75. 



     Thank you Steven Spielberg for creating what will probably go down in history as one of the best films ever....but you totally f-ed up my summer.

     As I said, my girlfriend and I went to see the film right after opening in June of 75.  I believe there are still marks on my arm from her fingernails.  Now granted movie special effects have really changed the game since then.  However, for that time, this movie was so terrifying.  And if you've seen it at some point in your life, I'm sorry....you never forget the girl swimming in the opening.


     My grandmother saw the film and remarked, "well you shouldn't be drinking and swimming alone at night."  I guess there was some sort of morality lesson I missed?  That sharks went after 'bad' girls?

     During this summer I was lifeguarding and teaching swimming at a school's summer program INDOOR pool.  Indoor mind you but every day I would have a handful of children saying "No, Miss Patti, I'm not going in the pool today.  There could be sharks."  Or "I am NOT going in the deep end, what is that on the bottom?"  It is just a filter I would try to explain.  These kids needed to get into the pool....honestly I found it the easiest way to learn how to SWIM! 

     The only way I could convince them is if I got in the water with them. I swear, every kid, for two months, looked like this.


     So I would have some kids sitting on the edge while I escorted some of them into the pool.  These poor babies would be shrieking and clinging onto my neck that I think I still have scars.  And I kept thinking these are like 7 year olds, who the hell is taking them to see that movie?  This is what their poor little scared minds saw.


      More lifeguarding life later....but what an awesome job.  I spent 6 days a week waterclogged but loved every minute of it, and my kids were always so precious to me. 

     By the end of the summer my kids all passed their swimming tests but I was exhausted!  My Dad also worked for the school system so we always took our family vacations in August.  That year we were heading down to the west coast of Florida.

    I always loved the ocean....body surfing, diving under the waves before they broke on your head.  And in my tiny mind, I thought that bad sharks are up only in Northeast waters.  Idiot.

     Anyway, my little brother and Mom were either at the pool or in the room and I begged my Dad to take me to the ocean.  I was a very good and strong swimmer but you just didn't go out alone.  And the lifeguards had left for the day.

     Dad, being a good sport, accompanied me down to the water.  I immediately dove into the warm water (Northeast ocean water is freezing) and started bobbing in the waves, swimming pretty far out and having a blast.

     The next part of the story comes from my Mom's recollections.  "Your father was standing at the end of the water watching you when he realized there was not one other person in the water or even near the water.  He asked a man fishing, 'hey where is everyone?'  The guy replied 'oh there was a shark sighting earlier.'  It didn't sink in immediately with your father.  He asked the guy 'oh really, where'?  The fisherman crinkled up his nose, put his hand above his eyes to block out the sun and pointed.  'See where that redhead girl is swimming?  Yeah right around there."


     Back to the story from my vantage point.  I have really bad eyesight.  And out playing in the waves, my hearing is not too good either.  I happen to look up and see my father doing some sort of crazy man dance.  My immediate thought is 'oh my God how embarassing what is doing'?  I finally realized, after what seemed like an eternity to my Dad, that he was telling me I had to come in.    He used the excuse that we needed to get ready for dinner or something.  I asked 'can I go back in tomorrow'?  "We'll see", he said, "but the pool looks really nice".

So yes, the power of the movies....and why that movie will stay with me forever. 




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