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.