When

...it's your job to sit and watch people swim back and forth, you start to notice things.
and for a while I would just look at the ripples in the water, or the pattern that the lap lanes make across the pool. but then i started noticing the swimmers.

specifically, their backs. have you ever actually thought about a back? of course not. why would you? its just there. but now its all i notice. It doesn't matter how old or how big the swimmer is, their back always looks strong. its just all these muscles coiling and moving and turning into shoulders.

we turn our backs on people when we're walking away. we don't face it and just keep staring when we're disappointed. we show that we're sad, but we're strong. we show them our back. it hides our emotion, and we need it.

and we give people our shirts off of it. I've never done that. but you always hear the saying. "that boy would give the shirt off of his back for a stranger," not "that boy would go shirtless to keep someone warm." you give someone something off of your back because your back doesn't really need anything. it supports you, you clothe it.

people who give up easily are spineless, like a jellyfish. its weird that we say jellyfish, and not... crustacean. but its less weird that we say spineless. we think the brain makes the decisions, or the heart for the sentimental. and they do. but the back makes you carry it out. the back makes sure you're okay.

someone has your back. they're there for you, but more specifically, if you're giving up and even your back cant stop you, they can help. when you're backing down, your back is the last thing to go.

even when your back fails, and you're running away, its the last thing that's seen in a final "fight of flight" reaction. you cant live without your back, and your back will do anything to be there. anything.

The TMC patrons probably think I'm just guarding their lives extra carefully. or that I'm looking at their butts as they swim laps. I'm not checking you out, I swear. I'm looking at your back, and your shoulders, and the fact that you're propelling yourself through this water again and again and again and your back is just there, helping you, saying nothing but meaning everything.

you're going to start noticing backs now, i bet.