One of the great New England summer mysteries to me is the appeal of sitting on a public beach (usually too hot or too cold) with loud people reeking of lotion pressed up virtually on top of you. They have usually gotten there by driving their way through traffic jams. They find new traffic jams on the beach, which can be as crowded as subway cars at rush hour.
And the ocean water is almost always too cold for comfortable swimming, even on the hottest days. Then there's the skin cancer, and the sand in your bathing suit.
What an unpleasant way to spend the day. Is it that most people feel that they must go to the beach in our brief summers?
-- Robert Whitcomb
