Lifeguarding

Today has been a long day and sadly it is not that much different than almost any weekday of my life! I spend four of my seven days of the week at my neighborhood pool "saving lives." In the two years that I have spent lifeguarding I have not had to save or help a single drowning person. There have been a few times that I was on the edge of my seat heart pounding prepared to jump in when I soon noticed a mom or sibling rushing to the drowning childs aid. My jump would have been useless and unnecessary due to the closeness of the family aider. Lifeguarding is terrible but it is important for me to earn money and develop good habits that will greatly benefit me in the future. The sun beats on my face and it feels as though at some points during my day that my skin is literally frying. The layer of sunscreen is a mere speed bump in the full speed travel of the burning sun. There is nothing I can do at points except for reapply over and over again until my body is coated in the oily white mess. The hours go by at turtle like speed and it seems as though the hands on the clock are refusing to obey father time. The money is incredible but I am often stuck wondering if my job as a babysitter at the neighborhood pool is worth a few dollars over minimum wage. The parents who take it upon themselves to drop their kids off and go have a couple beers are only the beginning of what seems to be an endless nightmare I never wake up from. I am glad that this journey will soon be over and that I can move on to bigger and better things. If anything my time as a lifeguard has shown me that I want to challenge myself and grow into something that I can be proud of. By no means to I want to spend my life as a glorified, sunburnt, babysitter. There are bigger and better things in the world for Brady Shanklin than lifeguarding.