Why Brazil Remains Third World

At the pool yesterday, there was a raucous on some tables off to the side. Round the tables were about six women and two men, arguing furiously with one of the club’s employees. It was the kind of arguing that could lead to violence, which of course attracted the attention of us swimmers waiting for our training session. A very chatty woman came up and explained the background of the situation.

“My daughter’s swimming class had just started and these women were on the other side of the pool. One of them took off her top and started waving it around in the air. The others followed suit and I was outraged and went and complained to the management. I mean, there are other pools around here I could use and if this happens again, I’m taking my daughter out.”

She was one of those people who seek out people to hear her lengthy speeches and I was one of them.

“I mean, it’s fine if you’re with your husband or boyfriend and want to fool around like that.” I assumed she wanted to show me that she was not a prude, a label best to avoid where sensuality and sexuality are celebrated. Another woman came up and continued the conversation, saying how kids nowadays have total exposure to sex from an early age.

“At the school where my daughter studies, they were given a sex talk where among other things discussed was premature ejaculation.”

“How old is your daughter?” I asked, the only words I spoke throughout the conversation.

“She’s eight,” the woman responded, “and unlikely to know about premature ejaculation or in fact any type of ejaculation.”

Brazilians openness about sex is quite amazing. I’d never uttered a word to these women and there we were talking about premature ejaculation.

Later, I heard our trainer’s version of the events.

“I was swimming when I noticed these women in the pool. All of a sudden, one of them takes off her bikini. This was fantastic; I didn’t understand what the women were getting so upset about.”

He went on to explain that the man accompanying the ‘ladies’ and supposedly the member of the club, had been floating in the pool. He refused to move and give way to the class, people who paid a monthly fee for such a service.

“So I just tried to avoid him and we did the class at the other end of the pool,” my trainer said quite naturally.

This is a typical case of excessive Brazilian tolerance which allows anti-social behavior to go unchecked. Such a stance in an American or British club would be dealt with differently, I felt. I can imagine the man being dragged out and expelled from the club. The unwillingness to confront a troglodyte minority whose behavior is offensive and often prejudicial to the majority is a character trait that retards Brazil’s metamorphosis into a serious country