Drew Placek
2/26/2007
English Language and Writing
Rough Draft
Comfort Inn Suites Hotel, located on 4231 Industrial Avenue, Lincoln, NE 68504, sitting at a table in the back corner of the indoor pool room is my current location. Right now I am sitting in one of those outdoor pool chairs that’s frame is made out of some sort of hard material and the seat and backrest part are made of rubber strips. This chair’s rubber strips alternate between the colors turquoise and white. The table I am sitting at has a circular shape and has a metal frame that is painted white. The table top is made of glass and in the middle of the glass top there is a circular shaped hole that is about 3 inches in diameter. Placed in the hole is the shaft of a large umbrella that shades the whole table.
It reeks of chlorine and is extremely humid in here right now. On the other side of the room there is a man and a women making out in a hot tub/spa. They are both Caucasians and their age looks to be in their early to middle 30’s. The man has on a forest green swimsuit and has a tattoo on his upper right back. I am not sure what the tattoo is supposed to be but it seems to be some kind of a bowl with something in it. One of his physical features, which is something I have not seen since I went caving in Arkansas, is the bullet hairstyle. The bullet hairstyle is a combination between bald and a mullet. The man is bald on the top of his head and has a long mullet on the back of his head. He also has a wicked long goatee that comes to a sharp point at the end of it and has two loop earrings on his right ear and one on his left. The women he is with is wearing a brown two piece swimsuit. She has short brown hair that she has pulled up into a ponytail. The women has several ear piercing on both of her ears and also has her noise pierced. Right now they are talking to each other but I can not hear what they are saying because of a loud fan that is behind me and the jets in the hot tub/spa are on. It is much quieter now because the jets in the hot tub have turned off.
There are black colored sprinkler heads all across the white colored ceiling. I am curious as to why they there? Incase the water catches fire?
The man is now trying to do handstands in the hot tub/spa as the women is trying to push him over. I am guessing that they have been drinking a little but can not be exactly sure. The man and women are now getting out of the hot tub and it is now apparent that they are both out of shape. As they dry off and put on their flip-flops the man puts on a pair of very large and really dorky looking glasses.
I am now about to ask the man and women if they would not mind answering a few questions I have.
Me: Where are you guys from?
Couple: Seward, NE
Me: What brings you to Lincoln?
Couple: Just felt like staying here a couple of nights.
Me: Why did you pick this hotel?
Couple: One reason is because it has a hot tub and pool. Another is because I am 6ft. 8in. and most hotels do not have rooms that accommodate men my height.
Me: How much did the rooms cost?
Couple: $55.00 a night for a king sized room.
There are green, white lettered, square shaped signs all over the walls. They vary in size from about the size of a text book to about the size of a table in the cafeteria. The one next to me on my left says “There is no lifeguard on duty.” When has there ever been a lifeguard on duty at a hotel indoor pool? Never! Another sign says that “Alcoholic beverages are not permitted in the pool room.” I wonder what the reason is for that? Alcoholic beverages are permitted everywhere else in a hotel, why not in the indoor pool room?
There is a drinking fountain that is across the pool from me and it is making me pretty thirsty. Another sign says “ Children under the age of 16 must not use the pool without an adult in attendance.” Next to that there is a sign that says “No glass containers allowed in the pool room”.
I find the markings on the floor very interesting. Starting with the first marking closest to me says 3ft. 0in., the next marking says 3ft. 3in., then 4ft. 0in., and finally on the other end it says 3ft. 6in. So according to the floor markings the pool starts shallow at one end and gradually gets deeper and deeper until about ¾ of the way across the pool. At that point the pool then starts to decrease in depth. I have never seen a pool that has its deepest point not at one of the ends.
Now enters a women in a black one piece swimsuit with black medium length hair and appears to be in her middle to late 40’s. She is wearing shoes and socks and has a light brown purse strapped around her shoulder. She must not have packed sandals because otherwise she would not be wearing shoes and socks. She is swimming laps, the backstroke to be specific. I do not know a whole lot about swimming but it seems like her form is good and makes me think she has probably swam competitively before.
There is a white phone with an extra long cord on the wall and a sign above it says “Incase of an emergency call 911”. Is this sign really necessary? Who else is someone going to call, their grandma?
There are five pots with that have dead plants in them that are hanging from the ceiling and there are two little trees, probably fake, at each end of the room.
I faintly hear country music but I do not have any idea where it is coming from. I am not a big fan of country music. I do not understand why county music singers feel the need to change their voices when they sing, it almost irritates me.
This chair is really starting to become uncomfortable. I think the rubber strips are making imprints on my butt.
There is a clock on the wall but I can not read the time because the clock’s glass is all fogged up because it is so humid in here.
There is a large sign next to the hot tub titled “Spa Regulations”.
1) No person is permitted to use the spa without first taking a warm water shower, using soap.
(First of all, nobody actually does that. Secondly, how would you enforce that? Thirdly, I like how they felt it was necessary to add the word “water” in front of shower, like there is some other type of shower people take.)
2) Pregnant women, elderly persons, and persons suffering from heart disease, diabetes, or high or low blood pressure should not enter the spa/hot tub without first prior medical consultation and permission from their doctor.
3) Do not use the spa/hot tub while under the influence of alcohol, tranquillizers, or other drugs that cause drowziness or that raise or lower blood pressure.
They misspelled the word drowziness, it is actually spelled drowsiness.
4) Do not use at water temperature greater than 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees C).
5) Do not use alone.
(The women in the black one piece swimsuit is breaking rule number five right now.)
6) Unsupervised use by children under the age of 16 is prohibited.
7) Enter and exit slowly.
8) Observe reasonable time limits (that is 10-15 minutes), then leave the water and cool down before another brief stay.
(How do they know the person is going to come back for a brief stay?)
9) Long exposure may result in nausea, dizziness, or fainting.
10) Keep breakable objects out of the area.
(I wonder what objects people are bringing into a spa/ hot tub?)
11) Maximum patron load is 8 persons.
(What does the word “patron” mean?)
A painting on the wall looks pretty funky. It is one of those paintings that is random colors everywhere the picture can be whatever you want it to be.
A security camera in the corner of the ceiling with a red flashing light on it. There is a rack of towels near the door. I am curious as to why some are white and others are tan.
A do it yourself life preserver thing on the wall. I have always wondered how that saves somebody’s life? If someone is drowning at the bottom of the pool how are they going to get up to the life preserver that’s floating on top of the water?
There are several long board shaped things hanging from the ceiling and they have a jagged surface. I have no idea what they are or what their purpose is.
At each of the tables there is an umbrella shading the table. I am inside a building, what are the umbrellas shading me from?
It is getting really warm in here, I am going to leave now. I just stepped on some blue toy on my way out.
Being at a hotel indoor pool reminds me of a comedian named Darren Streblow. He’s a Christian comedian who does not curse in his stand ups and has a bit that talks about his interests and one of them is going to hotel indoor pools and hanging out at them. He is the reason I decided to make my observation location a hotel indoor pool.
