People are remembering how they used to rescue bricks from swimming pools and some non-Brits are very confused indeed
It all started when journalist and ‘professional geek’ Holly Brockwell said this on Twitter …
Without school swimming lessons, I wouldn't be where I am today. By the river, wearing pyjamas, about to save a drowning brick
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) March 4, 2020
… and she was pretty sure she’d got some people confused.
I suspect I’ve confused the non-Brits again
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) March 4, 2020
And she was right.
pretty much
— Lord President Narwhal Tusk (@andraswf) March 4, 2020
For some reason at school, we all had to dive into the swimming pool wearing pyjamas and get a brick out of the deep end. It was a thing
— Holly Brockwell (@holly) March 4, 2020
So @andraswf (from Hungary) decided to throw the whole thing wide open and the responses came tumbling in.
Okay, hive mind: is this really a British thing? https://t.co/lBpLGihZ20
— Lord President Narwhal Tusk (@andraswf) March 4, 2020
Here are our favourites.
1.
Yes. Rubber-coated brick though, we’re not monsters.
— Ben Cooper (@bencooper) March 4, 2020
2.
yes – because you never know when you’ll have to save a brick from drowning in the middle of the night so we rehearse it from a young age
genuinely a thing
— dean (@DeanRed123) March 4, 2020
3.
Yep. Me and my mum had to dash around trying to buy some pyjamas that didn’t have cartoon characters on. I was a sensitive child.
— Dan Reast (@RoastedReast) March 4, 2020
4.
I definitely remember doing it. Not a regular house brick — a special brick made of a hard, heavy, black rubber substance. Sort of like how I imagine the black box on an airplane.
— Ben Stephens (@stephens_ben) March 4, 2020
5.
5.
I did this. Did a lifesaving course at uni too and we did it again then. IIRC it about being able to swim with clothes on in case a brick is drowning. But it turns out bricks can hold their breath for ages.
— Pete Bagnall (@pbagnall) March 4, 2020
6.
I believe it started during the great brick drought of 76.
Bricks became so rare that small children were trained to retrieve them from rivers, canals etc.
The pyjamas were in preparation for when we were rushed to hospital afterwards.😀— craig weaver-martin (@craigmartin46) March 4, 2020
7.
I think the point of the pyjamas was to make a float by tying up the legs and blowing into them. I never get on a boat now without a pair.
— corinne williams#FBPE#BetterthanBrexit (@wiliams_corinne) March 4, 2020
8.
Its part of our great heritage as a *checks notes* “independent coastal state.”
— roger (@r0g3rd4y) March 4, 2020
9.
Yup. Whatever else life has thrown at me I’ve always been confident that if I’m wearing pyjamas and a brick needs salvaging from 6′ of chlorinated cold water I’m good to go
— Nigel Gibson 🐝 (@nogbad) March 4, 2020
10.
I couldn’t do this. Had a panic attack and was “made an example of” in true British fashion so that not only the other kids, but staff as well, humiliated me at the poolside and called me a cry baby. Classic 1979! Finally learned to swim aged 14 once I had a patient teacher.
— Candace Taylor-Gregg (@candacekendall_) March 4, 2020
11.
Did it in a full navy uniform once, boots and every thing.
Plot twist: was not in the navy.
— Dr Philip Lee (@drphiliplee1) March 4, 2020
12.
I first read about this in Adrian Mole but I assumed it was a translation error.
It sounded too mental to be real.
— Peter Ellis (@almostconverge) March 4, 2020
13.
(to be fair, the Adrian Mole books translation was not great)
— Lord President Narwhal Tusk (@andraswf) March 4, 2020
14.
In the netherlands it was rings, just in case sonic is ever incapacitated and we have to dive in the river to get that ring to revive him.
— Penanggalan🌍🚀🌌🏳️🌈 (@Firesnakious) March 4, 2020
15.
It was a thing in Germany to get the gold swimming certificate.
Swimming in clothes is remarkably different, and much, much harder. Useful lesson.— Götz von Berlichingen #FBPE 🐟 #SardinesUK (@georgebernhard) March 4, 2020
16.
So far we’ve established that not only the Brits are doing this, but apparently also the Dutch and the Germans.
All I can say is this is the first time I’m glad that we were on the other side of the Wall.
— Lord President Narwhal Tusk (@andraswf) March 4, 2020
17.
Also an Australian thing. For a basic swimming/lifesaving certificate.
— Mike Stuchbery 💀🍷 (@MikeStuchbery_) March 4, 2020
To conclude …
The replies confirm this.
Of all the idiosyncratic stuff about this country, this takes the cake.
— Lord President Narwhal Tusk (@andraswf) March 4, 2020
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