Within our culture, every school has a swimming pool. We lived on the coast. People swam in the surf. It's a very sporty nation and at that particular time anyone who had an artistic bent was very much an outsider. So if you liked reading or ideas or playing the piano then your dad viewed you as a sissy, basically.

Summary

This quote highlights the speaker's experience growing up in a culture where athleticism was highly valued, reflected in the presence of swimming pools in every school and a preference for swimming in the oceans. In this sport-focused society, being artistic or having intellectual interests, such as reading or playing the piano, was seen as unconventional and even despised. The quote implies that individuals with a non-athletic inclination, such as the speaker, were considered outsiders, possibly facing societal pressure and fatherly disapproval for having interests that deviated from the norm.

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