Life guarding is an awesome job to have. Although it's mainly a summer job, it can go into all seasons depending on where the pool is. I started life guarding at the age of fifteen unofficially. I sat through the class, just didn't do the certification class. No matter how many times I complain about my job, I'll always love it. I would wake up at at 8am, have to be at work at 9am, and then I wouldn't get off most nights until 9pm. That's approximately a twelve hour shift that I would work five, six, and sometimes even seven days a week. I was very committed to my job and was always trying to find opportunities for advancements. There are several things I learned in my years as a lifeguard, but here are just a few of my favorites.
1. Constantly Yelling "Walk!"
We're just as tired of yelling it as you are hearing it, trust me. It gets old. We only yell it to keep y'all the patrons safe. The concrete gets very slippery when it gets wet, so if you're running, you could trip and fall and hurt yourself.
2. Constantly Handing Out Band Aids
For some reason. it feels like everybody cuts themselves at the pool. I got to the point where I would keep a hand full of band aids in my hip pack so I would always have some at easy access. Patrons love to ask lifeguards for them while we're sitting on stand and can't get down. Keeping some in your hip pack is the solution, you just go in there and simply hand one down to them. I probably handed out ten every day working.
3. Patrons Complaining The Water is Too Hot or Cold
I'm a lifeguard, not Mother Nature. I'm sorry, I don't control the weather and temperature. If I could, trust me, the pool would stay at a steady 80 degrees all the time. Sadly, I don't have that power. Whatever the temperature is outside, corresponds to the temperature in the pool.
4. Movie Nights, Swim Meets, or Other Activities
This simply means longer nights and extra hours. The pool closes at 8 normally? Not on activity nights. You're lucky if you'll get out of there my 10pm. By the time the activity is over and everybody leaves, your night isn't over. You still have to clean up and reset the pool up for normal hours the next day. You can't leave the pool a mess. Swim meets were always fun because you only need one guard on stand at a time for twenty minutes. You had the best seat in the house when you were up there. When it wasn't your turn for rotation, you were always down supporting your home team to victory!
5. In Service or Re-certifications
Certification papers are a very important part of your job. Obviously the company you work for doesn't want an employee that doesn't know what they're doing. Certification courses usually last three days with time in the classroom and skills in the pool and a test at the end of the last day. It's not bad and it's (usually) really fun! I enjoyed it. Certifications usually last two years at a time and then you have to go get re-certified. If you don't take the re-certification course (which is a lot shorter and easier) before your credentials expire completely, you have to retake the entire course and the test. In-services are meetings at your pool where a company manager comes and you review all the skills you learned in your certification and practice on real people. They do this so you don't forget what you would need to do if an emergency were to come up.
6. Patrons Complaining About the Rules
We don't make the rules, we just enforce them. We do this to keep everybody safe, not just ourselves. We don't this so nothing bad happens and nobody gets hurt. We're sorry if you don't always agree with them, but there's always a good meaning and usually good story as to why we have each and every one of them.
7. Worshiping Thunderstorms
Who doesn't love a good thunderstorm? Oh yeah, patrons trying to swim. Lifeguards love them because it makes our jobs easier. When we think we hear thunder, we send a guard or two on "thunder walk" to see if it actually happened. Whenever we hear thunder we have to clear the pool for thirty minutes after the clap of thunder, and whenever we see lightening we have to clear the entire deck for thirty minutes. Can you say unplanned break time?
8. Late Rotations
At my pool, we usually always had six guards working at a time with three guards in stands. That meant you worked for an hour and were "down" for an hour either doing check in, cleaning, or on break. You would be in a stand for twenty minutes before the next person in rotation would come and relieve you from that position. It was an endless cycle. Whenever the next person in rotation was late, it was annoying. It would make you mad because you didn't want to be up for longer than you had to. Of course though this would happen
9. Going Through 1000 Whistles in One Season
This is very simple. You get bored sometimes while sitting on stand and there's nothing for you to do besides just stare at people in the water. All uniforms include a whistle though, so me personally, when I got bored, I would chew on my whistle. It's weird, but I did it anyway. It kept me from getting fatigued on stand ans gave me something to do. I went through nine high-quality whistles this summer.
10. Obnoxious Tan Lines
This is another very simple one. You're in the sun all day in the exact same bathing suit every day. The tan lines don't change and they're very clear. Depending on the uniform you had, your tan lines would be awful. I was always golden brown at the end of summer with HORRIBLE white tan lines. I had an X and O on my back from my one piece uniform and an X form my two piece suit. They don't completely go away either. It's currently November and I haven't been in a suit since August, and I STILL have clear tan lines from summer.
Life guarding isn't always a fun job, but it keeps you outside during the summer and you get paid. Who wouldn't want to get paid money to sit at a pool all day? I've been a lifeguard for three years and wouldn't change that for anything. I really love it!
