One of the reasons I hate swimming in outdoor community/development pools is the lifeguard glare you get when you come in with all your gear, prepared to swim and hour or two. :banana: I've been swimming outside for 25 years in the summer, and find that the guards are mostly all the same - texting, playing ball, sleeping, eating. Heaven forbid, they have to sit up and watch a swimmer. I feel like they really hate when I walk in because they have to actually do their job. I've treated them to lunch, ice cream, treats and some are fine, but overall, they are mostly very lazy. I tell them I had a guard cert, (I can swim better than almost all of them!), and they don't have to sit in the chair, or even watch, but I still feel the glare. I've even encountered a few occasions when the sun was shining and guards claimed they heard thunder. What happened to the good old days when guards sat in the chair and did their job without resentment? I only see that type of mentality at the indoor pools. On rainy days, they really give me the evil eye. :badday:
PWB, maybe it is a Northeastern mentality. While in Florida, I don't sense that kind of attitude at all when swimming outdoors, but in NJ, people wake up in the morning with attitude. However, while swimming in Florida during my last visit, (in a rather large pool) this stupid dad was playing Marco Polo with his kids (of course they gravitated towards the right hand side where I was hugging the wall), and as I swam by, suddenly I felt myself being lifted up and carried about 6 feet across the water! The stupid dad claimed he thought I was one of his kids (ages 6 to 9). Now, I'm a 5'6" female, in good form.
This is the funniest thing I've read today.:rofl:
That seems similar to many pools in the U.S. I wouldn't expect someone to swim laps during an open swim time and I think it is borderline inappropriate.
I don't think that was the case here. He did stay out of everyone's way and there were no times posted for lap swimming, or perhaps he did not read French well enough to know that. Gosh, I was just relating a funny story LOL.
If you've been around here long enough nothing about public swim sessions would surprise you. Swimming too fast, swimming too slow, "splashing" people who are doing water aerobics, swimming laps, etc. have all been listed as reasons for arguments in the pool. :)
I've done my good deed today if I've made you all chuckle.
It must be the area, b/c our guards read, eat, text, play ball. It's the oddball that sits in the chair and actually watches the pool. I have witnessed guards going into the office and leaving the pool, therapy pool and hot tub unattended at our indoor fitness center. It terrifies me to think they could be so apathetic.
PWB, maybe it is a Northeastern mentality. While in Florida, I don't sense that kind of attitude at all when swimming outdoors, but in NJ, people wake up in the morning with attitude. However, while swimming in Florida during my last visit, (in a rather large pool) this stupid dad was playing Marco Polo with his kids (of course they gravitated towards the right hand side where I was hugging the wall), and as I swam by, suddenly I felt myself being lifted up and carried about 6 feet across the water! The stupid dad claimed he thought I was one of his kids (ages 6 to 9). Now, I'm a 5'6" female, in good form.
Too funny!!
In the dad's defense, that is a game that you play with your eyes closed.
Maybe it's an east coast attitude. In Chicagoland area, guards are H S kids who do pay attention & walk around the pool ALL the time, not sit in chairs! Most will talk to you & with you about why I breathe to the side while doing fly.
I have witnessed guards going into the office and leaving the pool, therapy pool and hot tub unattended at our indoor fitness center. It terrifies me to think they could be so apathetic.
Here is a story about a "swimming monitor" who was charged with involuntary manslaughter at a high school in Detroit. He went into the locker room to change out of his street clothes before attempting to rescue a student who was having trouble in the water:
www.myfoxdetroit.com/.../east-detroti-teacher-charged-in-students-drowning
