It’s LIFEGUARD Time!
Oh, the days of my youth, spent as a lifeguard at our local pool. It was a great experience. I learned so much by being a lifeguard. But…things have changed, as they always do. Of course, as most adults think, being a guard now, is so much easier than when I was teenager. I’m sure I had to walk 10 miles to the pool, both ways, in knee deep snow! Even in Arkansas summer!
I grew up in Jacksonville, Arkansas. It was such a great place to be a kid. Small enough to know everyone in town, but close to Little Rock and the Air Force Base, so we had everything we needed close by. I loved it. And, like many other kids, my favorite place in the summer was the local municipal pool. We spent the whole summer there, swimming, visiting with friends and idolizing the lifeguards. They were gods and goddesses to me! I wanted to be one of them! So, when I turned 15, I decided it was time to make that dream a reality. I was a good swimmer, so I thought it was going to be a piece of cake……
I couldn’t have been more wrong! Back then, in the early 70’s, lifeguards didn’t use rescue tubes. We depended on our swimming ability, physical strength and knowledge of the rescue skills. Taking the class was rigorous and difficult. Our instructors told us on the first day that their job was to flunk us out of the class. I guess that makes sense, since we were going to be responsible for people’s lives…..we needed to be GREAT lifeguards. And, as he predicted, I did flunk the swim portion of the first class I took, just as everyone else in the class did. It was brutal! For our final exam, we had a long written test to complete, which was okay. I passed that…but the rescue part was almost impossible to pass. Our rather large male instructor was the victim we rescued. He tried to drown each and every one of us, and he could have. It was a rough day, to say the least!
But, I took the class again and knowing what to expect, I passed with no problems.
