Sprained Ankle and Dry Clothes

This is true, I couldn't make this up. I really couldn't...

A co-worker of mine was guarding a reservation. Less people but they tend to be entitled a-holes. She was doing her job and saw a 4 year old drowning. (keep in mind, the parent should be within an arms length.) She jumps in saves the 4 year old. Sprains her ankle in the process. Receives no thanks. In fact the mom says " Oh I saw that, I was going to get in, but I didn't want to get my clothes wet."

Payments, Parents and Pain

Well it has been a while since I have posted and so I hope that this one will be long enough for the readers I have. (read two of my friends who poke me if I haven't written for a while!) My first point of contention with pool life stems from a recent promotion. You are looking at a brand new Senior Guard In Training! Woo! In being a Senior Guard, I need to completely understand the weird computer program we use to input money. Which honestly I am convinced the code for which was banged out in Morse code by a blind, mute, and deaf woodsman with an axe who didn't know Morse code. That being said I am slowly starting to understand the program, and am learning to close the register. So I was working the register and was about to shut the window and go rotate with the other two lifeguards. So I shut the window, this guy comes up and like an idiot I open the window. He pays for lap swim ($5.50) with $2.00 in $1.00 bills, 50 cents in quarters, and wait for it... $3.00 in nickles! Freaking Nickles! So understandably I was late to my rotation, but still.. nickles? Then I got to count them again when I closed the cash register. I was about ready to look him up and throw them at him and say "Give me real money!"

Next parents. Parents we have a simple rule, if your child is under 6 you need to be in the water an arms length away. That does not mean sitting on the side talking to your friend. That means actively parenting. Which also doesn't seem to happen in lessons. There is this mom who brings her 2 year old and her 4 year old. The 4 year old has private lessons, the 2 year old runs amok while the mom laughs. The nanny is trying to reign in the kid but is totally unsuccessful. The last experience I had was the mom who was letting her kid run around crazily. Only reigning him in after I told him and her three times what rule he was breaking. This kid was dragging our trash cans around, tripping and falling in them. Playing with our brand new and extremely expensive handicapped lift. This kid must have been 3 and she was letting him run around our 13ft deep pool. The kid could not swim. You think as a parent you would be concerned. Maybe she wanted him to drown, then she could sue us and wouldn't have this nutso kid. Her other two kids were.

My last rant is the subject of pain. Some how in the course of my work, rock climbing, yoga, being sick and tai chi... I have screwed up my back. I have no idea how! I know it is screwed up cause it hurt to sit on the Lifeguarding chair. So any suggestions for how to proceed would be appreciated! I am going to try a massage tomorrow. Which is out of my price range.. but worth it!

Lifeguards, please watch.

Alright here is the deal, our jobs are hard. Most of the time it is boring, but it is important to remain vigilant just in case. Now when one is guarding lessons, it is even easier to become complacent. The teachers are watching out for the students as well as you. Or so you think. Yesterday we had the start of lessons. This is always a hectic day, people are all over the place. When I am a head teacher I will try and start lessons a bit more smoothly. But that is neither here nor there. A little level one slipped into the a level 3 class. This shouldn't have happened. But the little girl started drowning. She was right in front of the lifeguard, 3 swim teachers, 2 head teachers and me. Luckily, one of the head teachers saw and grabbed her. But that meant I was drafted to play with the girl in the shallow water. Now she won't pass under the rope and leave the 2ft area. But we will see. I hope that she will get used to it and that we can fix this mistake. Just remember how important your jobs are lifeguards and swim teachers.

Puke in the Pool

Today was extremely hot. So all the kids and adults from the area showed up. With crowds come all the people who ignore the rules. We have a rule that children under six must be with an adult in the pool. This is in huge print next to the entrance of the pool. But never the less we had to explain this multiple times to some very grumpy people. It was so hot, I was sweating while I sat there. We didn't have enough guards to cover the pool and get breaks. So we did our best. But yelling walk and keeping kids with their parents was hard. About a half an hour before the end, some kid start projectile vomiting on his mother and in the pool. He was "too excited". So we had to clear the pool. We blew our whistles and instructed people to leave the pool. Most of them ignored us, and when we finally got them all out we could hear someone complaining that rec swim ends at 5:30. My lovely coworker turns to her and goes. "That is when there isn't puke in the pool" She shut up with a simple "oh."

Ever think of being a lifeguard. Hope you don't mind pulling puke chunks out of the pool with a net!

Lifeguard Ranting

Lifeguarding is an under appreciated job. Young people like myself sign up for the classes, practice and remain fit. All in an effort to keep patrons of the pool safe. We are taught often that preventative lifeguarding is the best policy. This includes but is not limited to enforcing the rules. You know the basic ones everyone had to learn when they were young.

1. No Running (which apparently isn't a rule in Europe)
2. No Diving in the Shallow Water (New red cross water safety instructor rules say it must be 9ft)
3. No Horseplay (this includes wrestling)

These are the most basic rules, yet people have trouble following them. Their are four types of people who are the worst offenders of these rules: 6 and under, middle school kids, parents and my fellow lifeguards.
The 6 and under crowd cannot seem to understand walking, they get so excited. And you warn them over and over. Those little lost causes are so cute you don't even mind.
Middle school kids can and will break any rule they think they can get away with. Mostly the horseplay rule. They wrestle and splash each other to the point of nearly drowning. When you inform them of the rules they pretend you are speaking to someone else. Then they sigh, roll their eyes, and follow the rules just long enough for the guards to change.
Parents are without a doubt the worst. They run, then turn and tell their children not to run. Also when a lifeguard informs them of the rules they sigh, look at their children and say "Sorry we can't do that the *sigh* lifeguard says we can't"
My fellow lifeguards often forget that they can't run, or dive in the shallow end, or hold each other under water. When I remind them I am a busybody. But that is what happens when one works with a ton of high school boys.