Lamentations of a Lifeguard (Longish!)

[GuardingYourLife]

Yay! I'm glad they could all swim, that makes me happy.
The guards in my city have a line for couples getting frisky in the pool:
"Excuse me, but this is the family swim, not the MAKE a family swim!"
usually does the job

[EricKei]

How many stories do we see about people who use retail/service environments as babysitters?

Chat with one of my fellow "GameStore" alums sometime. You will get an earful of them.

[Anriana]

Since they were older kids, I think it's kind of nice that the parent asked if she could leave them there. How many stories do we see about people who use retail/service environments as babysitters?

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I haven't heard too many stories of sex in a pool, but get teenagers/young adults in a hot tub and you better watch out!

[Sunflash]

I've just had people trying ot have mild-to-moderate make-out sessions. Who promptly got a whistle in their ear~

As to the 'leaving kids in the pool' thing, they were all...12+? Give or take. Pretty much all could swim like a fish, so I wasn't really worried about it. I was just more staggered by the whole assumption that I /wouldn't/ try to keep some /faint/ idea on 'em. >.>
Then again, I work the morning shift, and rarely have more than 5-10 in the pool at any one time...

P.S. YAY ANOTHER LIFEGUARD *wave*

[Andara Bledin]

Why would anyone want to have sex in a public pool?

I mean, I can see that it might be an exhibitionist kind of thing, but sex in pools just doesn't work all that well.

^-.-^

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

You ever caught anyone trying to have sex in the pool?

A relative of mine used to work at a Y pool, he has some crazy stories...

[bainsidhe]

Yeah, I was wondering about the kid thing as well. If they're not old enough to be left unattended anywhere else (park, mall, etc), then they aren't old enough to be unattended at a swimming pool. Lifeguards are not parents/siblings/babysitters. They are meant to enforce the rules and more importantly, be on hand should an emergency arise.

When I was five I almost drowned in a local pool. The lifeguard didn't see it and it was my cousins who pulled me out, barely conscious. I'd hate to think the lifeguard didn't see I was drowning because his/her attention was focused on some unruly kids that should've had a parent present. Not saying that was what happened, but the idea scares the heck out of me. That and it WAS the people watching me that managed to pull me out. A lifeguard has his/her attention spread across an entire section full of people. My family has their attention focused only on me.

So yeah, I feel strongly that a parent should be present.

[GuardingYourLife]

When an SC asks "can you watch my kids while I do x" at the pool I work at what that means is "my kids can't swim, please babysit them especially despite the full pool of people around them while I neglect them" and the answer is NO. I cannot provide the full standard of care that a parent does while in the water. If your kids are old enough and can pass the deep end test, then go do whatever you like and come back later. Don't plunk your 3 year old in a lifejacket and ask me to watch him while you sit in the whirlpool with your back to him. Kids can drown while wearing PFDs and I'm legally responsible for the lives of EVERYONE in this pool. TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHILDREN!

*sorry, end rant. Nice to see a fellow lifeguard!

[Sunflash]

I'M NOT DEAD. Yeah, we're down to four total 'Guards and a sub-guard right now, so I've been having to work extra shifts and it pretty much results in a tired Sunny. BUT, I'm awake enough tonight to give you some stories! Well, these arn't so much stories as just a collection of things I've discovered as a 'Guard.

---Types of Patrons---

There are two types of kids that swim: Kids that don't know how to swim, and kids that don't know how to swim but THINK they do. When it comes to underwater swimming, BOTH kinds feel they can breathe underwater, no matter how many times they fail.
There are kids that start paying attention when the Lifeguard walks down to the water's edge looking at them; and the kids that require you to blow a whistle five feet behind them before they'll look at you. Both kinds think you can't see them when their underwater, and neither actually listen till you yell at them for the fifth time, usually in a row.

Teenagers can usually be whipped into shape with the threat of A) BANISHMENT, or B) Calling Your Mom. Both are allowed, and often both will be used in the same instant.

Adults seem to think that since they're OLD, they're allowed to break the rules. There is litle we love more than being able to blow our whistle at the parents when they break the rules.
What we love more than that is THROWING THEM OUT.


---Don't Ask Me, I Just Work Here!---

So to the best of my knowledge, it's either very HARD or /ILLEGAL/ to find 'offical' 'Guard shirts outside of certified places. So imiange my surprise when some lady walks up from behind me, taps me on the shoulder, and asks if I'm the lifeguard. It gets worse when you realize that not only was I standing there twirlling my whistle about, but also that in order to tap me on the shoulder from behind; she had to ignore the big Red-Cross symbol with large letters reading '<COUNTY> YMCA LIFEGUARD' underneath....

Then again, it was better than the lady who asked if I would watch the kids in the pool while she went to the cardio room for about an hour. "...I..Yo-...Yeeessss ma'am, that's my job, ma'am."


---I Must Be Doing Something Right!---

So last Wed I had a pair of what can only be described as 'punk kids' come into the pool during the morning shift. It is, of course, a free country; so I overlooked the short mohawk. As there wasn't anyone else in the pool at the time, I played 'nice 'guard' and let them push the edges of what they were allowed to do (kinda-sorta a dive but I'll let it slide, etc) for awhile. What I did /not/ overlook was catching them lying about /biting a chunk/ out of one of the noodles we kept for kids to play with. I gave them a rather loud talking to and kicked them out for the day, mainly because I really don't like being lied to after I've given someone an inch.

Well the next day who do I see riding up on his bike then mister mohawk. I idly watch him toss his bike down near the bike rack, then perk up as he approches the window to the pool and presses his face against the glass. He slowly scans the pool, locks eyes with me for a good ten seconds...then backs away, gets on his bike, and rides off for the day.


Right, that's enough for now I think?