Lifeguards

 

This was a great save. I saw here have some sort of seizure some 30-40 yards out, then she started to go down into the water. I sent off a signal and swam out and seized her. She first tried to fight me off, impulse response, but I got here back and she recovered. This was my first save. 

Being a Lifeguard at beaches in NYC was a prime job. Highly competitive, you had to be one of the top 400 in the city and pass a set of other tests. It was a six day a week job and between fights, dead bodies from Brooklyn, and hundreds of thousands on weekends, it was an honor and privilege. One was respected, and it set the way for many other life experiences. All my fellow lifeguards were successes in life. 

The NY Times has an article bemoaning the lack of lifeguards. They note:

Lifeguards are in short supply around the country this year because of low unemployment and Covid’s effects on training. Pools have been left closed and beaches unguarded.

Now an observation. There were two types of lifeguards; ocean and pool. The pool folks were always a bit whimpy, like Uncle Joe. The ocean folks had to deal with a greater level of uncertainty, drunks, sharks, yes real ones, fights etc.

Looking back being an ocean lifeguard was a proud achievement. It let me know if someone needed help in a tough situation I could respond immediately, and save them. No other job gives that sense of reality.