Newest target for tea party rage... 'Overpaid' lifeguards

The swell of anger from beachgoers and budget-watchers alike has blindsided the lifeguards, who have for years enjoyed the prestige of their jobs in an ocean-centric town that banks on summer tourism. Now, as the pressure mounts, they are balking at their portrayal as suntanned slackers lounging in beach towers as the surf rolls in.

Those whose salaries are in question point out that they hold management roles, have decades of service and are considered public safety employees under the fire department, the same as fire captains and battalion chiefs. The fulltime guards train more than 200 seasonal lifeguards who make between $16 and $22 an hour, run a junior lifeguard program that brings in $1 million a year and oversee safety on nearly seven miles of sand.

Many began as seasonal guards and worked their way into management roles and must stay certified as instructors in an array of advanced emergency, scuba and rescue techniques, said Brent Jacobsen, president of the Lifeguard Management Association, the lifeguards' union.

Leonard Musgrave, a former oil company employee, was so outraged that he wrote a letter to the local paper, The Orange County Register, earlier this month inquiring why the city didn't simply put up a sign reading, "Swim at your own risk." The 69-year-old retiree said he isn't swayed by the lifeguards' responsibilities or years of service.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110520/ap_on_re_us/us_lucrative_lifeguarding

"Swim at your own risk." - Basically, that's the conservative libertarian ideology in a nutshell right there.

Enjoy your summers at the beach everyone.

Let Darwinism take its course

Of course they truly believe in the YOYO principle.

:rofl:

NEED the damned life guards to save their asses. i mean really!

A real life-of-the-party type, I imagine.

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Jeez.

:wtf:

people like them will be raptured. They'll be left here with the rest of us heathens.

Libertarians really don't care about the next generation.

They need to keep multiple certifications, manage crisis and more than 200 people who save more than 2000 lives a year in a place that relies heavily on tourism.... I'd say the county is getting their money's worth.

at the position of readiness to save life that could take your own. appears all peachy and nice, but it isnt as easy as it looks. and hopefully, you never have to go in. but yea if you are there when needed.

i was pool. much easier

growing up in calif i never envied the ocean lifeguard. i think that would be so hard

i am glad they pay them

Long hours, hot sun, and I hated the rotation (though at least I could get up every half hour and move to another spot!) My favorite rotation was either working the front desk or assisting in the snack hut. (Yep, even the snack bar people were lifeguards.)

I never made any real money and my tan sucked. All the sunscreen in the world didn't prevent that crispy burn. I should have known during the interview when they looked at me and said "Are you sure you want to do this?" that it wouldn't be good. (I'm a red head with grey eyes and I'm pale.)

Nothing happens all summer, and yet you've got to be ready if it does.

The beach is the most dangerous place on earth. I know, I saw Baywatch.

years because of the stress, not to mention the ungrateful parents of kids he had to "help". They looked at him as a babysitter, not a professional on duty.

The parents appreciated she ran a tight ship, they had had too many lifeguards that didn't act professionally and were delighted that she was a strict disciplinarian.

Her MBTI "trademark quote" is "I'm sorry you have to die", the kids didn't stand a chance. :rofl:

lifeguards. It is possible to live a long (fairly long) life without lifeguards on duty.

Way more than the cost of the lifeguards.
Hotels, shops, etc. all generate revenue because of the beach.
Open a public beach without lifeguards and you are asking for a lot of liability.

Yeah, big deal, some people get lucky. Others don't, but then again they're not around to boast about their luck, are they?

Hey, I lived through the "no helmet" period, too.

I only knew two kids who died from head injuries due to bike accidents. That's not a lot, is it?

Almost everyone I know my age knows some kid who died from bicycle related head injuries. Oh, but it's "possible" to "live a long and healthy life" without wearing a bike helmet as a child!

You nailed it to the wall, Arugala!

:thumbsup:

My son's best friend had an SUV swerve into the bike lane he was riding in when he 9. His arm was hurt a bit, and his helmet was destroyed, but his brains stayed safely contained in his head. I can't help but think about what could have happened without that helmet.

begins.

Next step will be to compel folks with a pool in their yard to have a life guard in addition to the fence w/ locked gate.

Many apartment complexes have pools with 'swim at your own risk' signs, and parents can/should supervise their children in them. More lifeguard requirements.

How many motels along the interstate have pools w/o lifeguards? Shame on them, expecting guests to monitor their own actions.

I don't wear a bicycle helmet either. And in about 15 minutes I'll be heading out on a 10 mile ride. Gee, I hope I can make it.

Gee, where have I heard that term before ... :eyes:

Also, we're talking about public pools, not private pools, FYI.

in when I am driving it. And, she says my passengers also must be belted in.

Nanny lets me ride a public bus without being buckled in.

If we have this difference in modes of transportation, why is it necessary to have the opposite in places where people swim? Public beaches must have lifeguards, as must public pools but private ones do not. Why is this?

If one can drown in a private pool just as easily as in the surf along the coasts or in a municipal pool, shouldn't the swimmers be as safe in a private pool as a public one (or the beach)? Is not the government providing the parental supervision for one but not the other?

It does look like a nanny is watching over us when we go to the beach, but not when we take the city bus to get to it.

There are different risks. I wouldn't want to take a bunch of kids to a beach that had no lifeguards.

Kids would lose out on the experience.

bike's front tire hit a rock on a dirt road and she went flying over the handlebars. She hit her head and suffered a head trauma that killed her.

Here at KU, out former Athletic Director, Bob Frederick, was a erious bike rider. While biking along a makor thoroughfare in our town, he unexpectedly encountered some torn up pavemnet left unsmoothed after recent roadwork. He was going fairly fast, so when his tire hit the rubble, he went flying over the handlebars. Although he actually was wearing a helmut, the head trauma was so severe that he died.

Biking can be surprisingly dangerous, especially if the biker gets up a bit of speed!

That doesn't mean we should give them up. I've been pulled out to sea in the pacific while swimming and was glad lifeguards were on duty.

so Mr. "nanny state" up there wouldn't have to pay as much in taxes and can enjoy his feelings of "liberty".

How dare you think your life is so special!

I learned a lot about lifeguarding from watching Baywatch.

That probably offsets some of that high salary. That, and rent when you're living near the water is probably pretty steep.

lifeguard certification. So at least some of the outrage is misplaced. Whether or not the managers are compensated appropriately is a more complex question. In comparison to who is what I would want to ask. It is a high cost of living area.

If Leonard Musgrove doesn't want to pay the taxes to support the lifeguard program he should vote with his feet and move somewhere that doesn't have beaches or at least protected beaches.

Anyway I suspect that good portion if not all of the cost of the lifeguard program is more than made up for in increased revenue from tourists, etc.

Then it will be, "WHERE WERE THE LIFEGUARDS?!"

They'd really start hovering if everything had to be under their supervision.

Put it out yourself, asshole.

We'll see how these fuckers like their beaches CLOSED through the high season.

It's dangerous and requires special skills. Some out of shape know-nothing teabagger wants to take over the duties, go with God, beach-goers.

the David Hasslehoffs or the Pamela Andersons? or both? :shrug:

here in Northern California. They read "Dangerous surf 'X-many people' have died in this surf". These signs work very well. Every year the number of deaths go up.

BTW who do these teabaggers propose pay for these "Swim at your own risk" signs? I certainly hope they don't expect to use your tax money to pay for these luxuries.

Can't have Americans in good jobs!

I know, same thing, but you know what I mean.

So say they.

There are a lot of things that can happen and it can't always be blamed on the individual. Stupid Libertarians would be attending so many more funerals.

I will volunteer to "life" guard any beach that loses its paid professionals - but I will ask if the drowning victim first if they support Ayn Rand and "free market" solutions to guage whether or not I bother trying to save the person in distress....yes, even in my really drunk state I know that is wrong...but goddamn it already I have had enough Teabaggers to last a a thousand lifetimes!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry....tension reliever....had to be done! (LOL)