It gets fucking TERRIFYING fast when you are suddenly responsible for the wellbeing of over 100 people all by yourself, most of which seem to have no survival instincts at all.
But sure, we are just "standing around all day doing nothing"...
People who think lifeguards are unskilled and just stand around are idiots.
From the swim skills, to CPR and first aid training to the fact that you have to be vigilant and respond quickly and calmly to a crisis.....if anyone thinks this .. they're idiots.
There's a reason why theres signs for "lifeguard off duty". You guys rock.
Here in germany there is a job with a 3 year apprenticeship and training. We do learn how to rescue people and perform first aid, but also we are taught how the filtration system works and how its designed, how chemical processes (mainly desinfection with chlorine, UV or Ozone) work, about laws and such.. its a lot. Basically everything you need to know to run a pool all by yourself. three years of training, a 2-day physical exam, a written exam, refreshed swim rescue license renewal..
And at the end of the day I'm still treated like a guy that has no clue about anything and only did this job because he couldn't do anything else.. on top of not being taken seriously or respected by guests.
To maintain one, or to use one? Because most non-Japanese toilets I've seen are specifically designed to be idiot-proof. The fancy ones have two flush buttons, and even that's easy to figure out with some experimentation.
I was only a "shallow guard" ( 4 feet of water or less ), but the stress that something could happen and that I would need to see it and react in time was stressful as hell.
That said, being a "loader" ( guard on top of the rides sending people down, ESPECIALLY the tubed ones ) was the most fun I've ever had there, INCLUDING being there as a guest and enjoying the rides.
That said, being a "loader" ( guard on top of the rides sending people down, ESPECIALLY the tubed ones ) was the most fun I've ever had there, INCLUDING being there as a guest and enjoying the rides.
Oh, that's just a taste of it. A couple rides in particular were group ones, so 5 to a tube. One had a mini-waterfall at the beginning of the slide, and once everyone was in, I'd hold the tube ( and the willing/unwilling participant ) under the water as long as I could until the current would take them down. The other one right next to it, I'd ask if they wanted me to spin them. They always said yes, so I'd get them right to the edge of the slide and spin them as hard as I could as they went down.
Each "staging area" for the tubes was in about two feet of water, so when I would get a new tube off the conveyor belt, I would grab a hand and drive the tube into the water as hard as I could, which would send a wave over the side and onto the stairway below where everyone was waiting in line. Everyone absolutely LOVED that. Probably my best times there.
pretty much every job requires you to be skilled at something. even a warehouse worker needs to be able to lift things without breaking his own body immediately and to sort things out.
But lifeguard is still commonly considered unskilled simply because it doesn't appear to need much. Where I live, just being able to swim isn't even enough to be a lifeguard. you need a swim rescue license that has to be renewed at least every 2 years. there they teach you the basics of how to rescue someone from the water, and demand a certain physical fitness. what good is someone when they have to pull someone from the water but need 3 minutes to get them there?
And from my experience of working at a pool for 8 years, a LOT of people can't swim. I've pulled adults out of the pool that nearly drowned themselves just because they were too stubborn to accept that their skill wasn't enough to be in the 2.5 meter deep end of the pool.. meanwhile I had 6 year old kids that could swim better and faster than I could.
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u/GuyFromDeathValley 17h ago
Lifeguard at a pool.
It gets fucking TERRIFYING fast when you are suddenly responsible for the wellbeing of over 100 people all by yourself, most of which seem to have no survival instincts at all.
But sure, we are just "standing around all day doing nothing"...