We all remember the scene in the infamous movie "The Sandlot" where the boys decide to hit up the pool on a hot summer day and trick the lifeguard into saving one of them just so they can receive "CPR." Is that what lifeguarding is really like? Is it glamorous? Easy? Fun? Like Hell? I'm a lifeguard at a local waterpark in south Florida, and I am here to document my days as a lifeguard. The waterpark I work at consists of slides, a "kiddie" pool, diving boards, lap lanes and an open swimming area. I absolutely adore my job for the most part. The majority of the time I spend my days making friends with the local kids, judging their splashes or rating their dives. It's a good time - let me tell ya. But every so often, we will have 500 kids come in, running around like chickens' with their heads cut off; all of them determined to be the first one in line at the slides. Those, those are the days where I wonder (only for a split second) if I should just quit and get a mindless job working at some kiosk at the mall.
Through this blog, you can decide for yourself: Is lifeguarding all its cracked up to be? I'll take you through the good times and the bad times, from the funny kids to the troublemakers, through the sunny days and the thunderstorms, from the serious rescues to tiny cuts. Get ready to see the real side of lifeguarding.
