After we lifeguards go through the hours of training, the pool finally opens for the summer. It is amazing how often I am astonished by the people that actually come to the pool. There are four main types of people that come to the pool; the regular families, the non-swimmers, the pool rats, and the absolutely crazy attendees.
The regular families are usually pretty well behaved; they watch their kids and if they get out of line they will normally correct their children's behavior. On occasion they will also apologize to the guards on duty. Although guarding family is nice and serene, unfortunately it makes for a boring evening.
Pool rats are kids that attend the pool the most often. I don't understand how they do it, but they will come and swim at the pool every single day in the summer. Some would think that if people attended the pool enough times they would gain an understanding of the rules that need to be followed. However, for some odd reason, the more time the pool rats spend at the pool, the more they seem to break the rules. I have to say that my pool was lucky to have genuinely good kids that were regulars. Although I must say that it made it harder to discipline them, and they should have been punished more .
Pool Rats are more of a term that describe the kids who actually swim in the pool. Other children come to the pool and just sit. They sit and talk the whole entire time they are there. This situation is all fine and dandy until they come on slow days and raise the people count. In case you are unaware, the pool has to have a minimum amount of people at the pool to stay open. If the people count goes below that pool's minimum and stays there for an hour. The pool is eligible to close early. The absolute worst feeling as a lifeguard is when the minimum amount of people needed is 30 and there are 32 people at the pool. This would be easier to deal with if all 32 of those people were in the pool and not just sitting and talking in the grass or concession area . Needless to say the non-swimming group should either go in the pool or just leave.
The final type of patron is crazy. When I say crazy I don't necessarily mean insane asylum, it is just the way they behave that distinguishes them in their own category. I can't specifically define the crazy patron, I can only share recollections of my personal encounters. Crazy person number one, nicknamed "octo-mom," came to the pool one afternoon with her Chinese- tattooed regions, bare ring finger, and her eight or so children. This delusional woman thought that her 2, 4, and 6 year olds would not be a problem and decided to just not watch them most of the trip. If her three children under 6 were actually capable of watching themselves maybe it wouldn't have been a problem. However they are only 2, 4, and 6 years of age. At the end of the day, the kids were rescued about 5 times each. At the second showing of octo-mom, she grew a few brains and brought fewer children under the age of 6 and her strange looking boyfriend. I must say although it was smarter to bring older and fewer children she still, did not watch them. Unfortunately this is not the craziest person I have seen, and I am sure other lifeguards could tell stories of their own pools' "loony bin." Examples might include over-parenting parents, bi-polar patrons, and of course the anti-management rebels.
In my next blogs I will be sure to write about other experience I have had as a lifeguard.
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