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

Screaming like girls, the Victors, Gerry, and Tim all ran into the water. It was like a rave scene, men and women of all ages jumping up and down, screaming and laughing, and generally acting like fools. A woman on a polar bear float calmly rode the waves created by the swimmers. And I found myself grinning like an idiot.

I began to think, hmm, maybe next year will be our turn, the time for me and the Arties to jump in the water and scream like men. Maybe we will make t-shirts, wear matching swimming caps, and get interviewed by some foreign-language newspaper. Maybe it was time to end the long history of female cowardice that runs in my family, and do something that involved physical risk. I was catching the polar bear fever. When I turned to the Arties to start my pep talk, I saw that they were also grinning like idiots.

My feeling of excitement was suddenly transformed into a sense of accomplishment. It struck me that we had, in fact, already done it—we were the source of the Triangle Team, the Polar Bear outing, and the high-pitched screams emanating from our men in the water. Maybe the men were getting those “I DID IT!” certificates, but the three of us knew that we were really the ones who did it. Without their sherpas, the men really couldn’t do much at all. 

So there—I did it. The Arties did it. We are polar bears, just like the Victors.  Now don’t you want to do it, too?