Prohibited: Eating on the Deck

 Standing at the pool's edge - dreads pulled back away from his shades - a lifeguard aimed his pointer finger at each swimmer, counting. It was Sunday. It was 88 degrees in South Philadelphia. The community pool on the corner of Carpenter and 13th was at capacity.

With just two lifeguards on duty, the pool could accommodate 60 people in the fenced in area - each lifeguard can oversee 30 people. After completing his count, the lifeguard walked around the deck, hustling people who laid on towels, reading books in the shade. "We got a lot of people waiting," he says. "You gotta get in the pool or get out."

Seems harsh, but there was a line outside the gate. At the end of the line, a toddler shook her red curls as her dad sprayed her down with SPF. She jumped and twisted in her lime green tankini, perpetually on tiptoes in anticipation. About 10 people waited in front of her.

Two women left their chairs behind and walked through the gate with paper bags. They made space for two others as they left, but their intentions weren’t necessarily philanthropic. “We got yelled at,” Daneen said. Of course, eating on the deck is prohibited.

Daneen and Sara settled at a picnic table under an oak tree in the park bordering the pool fence. They’d picked up sandwiches at The Last Drop Coffee House (13^th & Pine) on their way to the pool in the morning. Sara unwrapped hummus with cucumber, tomato, and lettuce smashed between two pieces of Metropolitan’s 9-grain, whole-wheat loaf bread. Daneen had a chicken salad sandwich with tomato and lettuce (which she promptly removed before taking the first bite). “I haven’t had chicken salad in forever,” she said. “It’s good.”

Daneen works at Jefferson Hospital, and often goes to Dibruno’s around the corner for lunch. “But that’s getting really expensive, so now I pack leftovers from dinner the night before,” she says. It’ll be quinoa (if she has the energy to cook after her pool day) or a Lean Cuisine from the freezer for lunch on Monday.

Sara works at Nutrisystem in Fort Washington. She packs her lunch; Monday she’ll likely have a kale salad with chicken, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. She eats lunch at noon at her desk and takes a break for a walk at 1:00.

She used to go out to lunch at Good Dog Bar. “They have a really good veggie burger,” she says. “All the burgers are really good though.”

Daneen recommends Continental. “If I want to go big, it’s the crispy calamari salad,” she says. It’s a pile of chopped greens topped with sprouts, carrots, tomatoes, crispy calamari and sesame-soy vinaigrette.

The two friends finished their sandwiches quickly, ready to get back to the pool. They would not be waiting the recommended 20 minutes for digestion. “It’s only a four-foot deep pool,” Sara laughed. 

In matching red baseball caps and towels hiked up around their waists, they headed back to the gate to wait in line. In fewer than 10 minutes, they were hopping back in the cool water.

The Ridgway Pool is open for one more week - until August 16th