I’ve died gallantly any number of times, but I used to play Dungeons&Dragons two or three times a week. And that’s how you practice. It’s best to be prepared to proclaim your everlasting love or everlasting devotion to a cause, this usually gets roleplaying points. And, of course, it helps if YOU aren’t the cleric in the group. Instead, you should be the cleric’s best buddy, so that s/he will raise you or at least get you raised.
The thing is, if I can’t touch bottom with my feet, I can’t move myself in water, unless I let myself sink and manage to crawl around on the bottom. I do not consider this to be the same thing as being able to swim, which implies that one can actually move in a desired direction.
I think that adults should know how to cope with the common things that happen to them in their lives. For instance, everyone needs to eat on a regular basis. Sure, you can eat out all the time, or live out of cans, if you’re willing to pay the price. But you do need to be able to get nourishment. And most everyone needs to get around, so it’s vital to know how to catch a bus or taxi or drive or ride a bike, and how to read a map. Most adults have a sex life, or would like to have one, so knowing about fertility and how to avoid an unwanted pregnancy is essential to enjoying sex.
But, to refer back to one of my previous posts…I used to play a lot of pen and paper role-playing games. And I got a lot of enjoyment from these games, and I actually learned a lot during those games. Role-playing games are frequently used in workplaces, too, though usually the workplace RPGs don’t involve orcs. I don’t regard being able to play role-playing games as an essential skill, though.
There are essential skills, which you WILL need to know, or will PROBABLY need to know sooner or later, and then there are skills which might be useful in certain circumstances, but which probably won’t come up. What if the Holocaust happens, and we all need to know how to knap flint in order to make knives and arrowheads? Should we all learn how to do that? Sure, the Zombie Apocalypse MIGHT happen and I’d need to swim across a river, but if the ZA happens, I’m probably gonna die anyway.
By the time a woman is 25, it’s useful for her to know:
the difference between childish, and childlike;
how to feel comfortable in an array of social situations;
how to be assertive, not aggressive;
how to dance with a man of her grandfather’s generation.
Come on now. I’ll grant you that swimming is not in the same category as starting a fire by rubbing sticks together, and I agree that it is not an essential skill. But most people have encountered deep water sometime in their lives. Backyard swimming pools are not exactly rare. Nor are trips to the beach or the lake.
I don’t think swimming is essential essential, but it is life-enhancing. Maybe it’s because I’ve heard “But I can’t swim!” as an excuse for not doing a lot of things. It’s not really the lack of ability that holds people back, but a fear of water that could be cured by simply knowing how to tread water.
I say all of this as someone who doesn’t know how to “fancy” swim and actually hasn’t gone swimming in a long time.
obviously no rehearsal, you have to go live.
Why? How will my life be better if I spend lots of money to learn this skill? (I suppose it would be free if I knew someone with that particular niche feature on his or her car, but I don’t, so I’d have to buy or rent one.)
All women should know how to trap, skin and cook varmints.
I don’t know that I’d call it a ‘niche feature’ Lord Feldon, but I think it’s a useful skill to have because it means you can drive any vehicle should there be reason to. By age 25, I certainly had occasions to drive other people’s cars, cars in other countries, trucks and tractors; and couldn’t have done these things if I didn’t know how to drive a manual.
You know, I don’t know ANYONE with a backyard swimming pool, other than one of those kiddy wading pools. This is a fairly nice neighborhood, and I know that some of the neighbors do have inground swimming pools…but I don’t know these neighbors, and I don’t go wandering in strangers’ back yards.
As I said, since I’m not even interested in fishing or boating, I don’t see any activities that would require me to know how to swim. I’ve been boating, and I don’t like it. But unless someone is actively interested in swimming, boating, or fishing, I don’t see that swimming is a life-enhancing activity. My husband was on the swim team in high school. My sister’s sons were both competitive swimmers. Me, I can’t see the appeal of it, or the need for it. It’s like playing a musical instrument, to me. I can do it (well, I used to be able to) and I enjoy it. But for someone who isn’t interested in it, it’s not an essential skill. Yeah, their life MIGHT be enhanced, but they probably have other things to do with their time.
How to Spot a Douchebag…
Actually, they should have this taught in elementary school, as an addendum in that film about the lady parts. 
Learn how to fight (argue) fairly. Yes, there are rules.
- Don’t sandbag (bring up old stuff).
- Keep your voice modulated.
- Don’t do any namecalling.
- Make sure you understand what the other person is saying. If need be, repeat it in your own words saying, "If I understand you, what you are saying is “blah, blah, blah, right?”
- Don’t blame the other person for what you are feeling. Don’t say, “You make me feel blah, blah.” Instead, you can say, “When you say so and so, I feel blah, blah.” You are responsible for what you feel.
- Don’t be afraid of sleeping off sore feelings. Things often look brighter after a nap or in the morning.
You can find other feuding advice if you google, I think.
It has never been my impression that the majority of women don’t know how to do this. The ones that hang with douchebags just think they want the douchebag. The thing all young women need to learn is that douchebags will eventually hurt you, too.
Yes, I’ve had this argument before.
What’s that? You’re supposed to replace the “blah blah blah” with real words? Hm.
Are you confusing women with “womenfolk?” 