The Arties, the Triangle Team, and the Polar Bear Club

When one of the Arties was turning forty years old, we rented a beach house with a pool and celebrated with endless barbequed meats and water volleyball games. It was the boys versus the girls, naturally. The Victors (including the honorary one) decided that their best defense against us wives was to form a triangle on their side of the pool, which was usually the deep end. The Triangle Team was born. T-shirts and plaques have been made in honor of the Team. The Team has planned and executed more than a few boozy nights out, and continues to plot volleyball re-matches (during the initial event, the women smacked down the men, twenty-three games to one). The Team has a secret handshake and far too many inside jokes—usually at the expense of one of the Arties or me. The Team’s latest exploit was joining the Polar Bear Club.

Every New Year’s Day, the Polar Bear Club in Brooklyn, New York, goes for a swim at Coney Island. This year, the Club was joined by the Team. The adventure was the brainchild of Victor Number Two during one of their boozy boys’ nights out; immediately, the Triangle Team unanimously agreed that joining the Polar Bear Club was a fantastic idea. Victor Number Two is a compliance officer for a major investment bank—doing something this illogical (and probably illegal) goes against his rational, conservative nature. But since he will never commit a crime, or jump out of an airplane, or climb Mt. Everest, Victor Number Two figured that this would be his only way to get in a cheap thrill. Victor Number One lives near Coney Island, and didn’t really have anything better to do that day; being the easygoing man that he is, he figured, “Why not?” And “Victor” (Dave) is an adrenaline junky who recently finished his first (and hopefully last) Ironman Triathlon—so jumping into the ocean in the middle of winter makes complete sense to him.

When I woke up on New Year’s Day to the gloomy sound of raindrops on my roof, I began to dread the trek to Coney Island. Go out in this weather? And just to watch my husband do another crazy stunt? I quickly called the Arties to see if any of their Victors had experienced a change of heart, secretly hoping we could get out of going through with this Polar Bear business.