Chip can swim just fine, but if he does then the other kids will see his wet pants and mock him for peeing himself. If he has the flippers, he can show them the flippers to prove he was swimming, but if he doesn't have the flippers he drowns himself on contact with water to avoid suffering such a humiliating fate. (Oh, and he can't step over one-tile pools of water because he... doesn't like to. The same way he doesn't like to tear down the chip socket with his bare hands before finding all the chips.)
Why do people ask me where I can see myself in 24 days?
Why do people ask me where I can see myself in 24 days?