I used to love this job. I loved the work environment, and I love the people I work for, but recently there have been several annoyances. I’m trying to find another job as we speak.
I’m a lifeguard, for context.
This one happened a while ago but I still have my gripes. During the swimming season highschoolers are allowed to rent out part of the facilities to practice for their meetings and competitions. A lot of the children from some of these high schools as expected were not very kind, and often made rude remarks to the lifeguards while on duty. I think the worst of it though was being referred to as an object and an ‘it’ even while I was within proximity to them. It’s bad enough as it is, but this is made worse by the fact that I am a transgender man and they were referring to me this way because they didn’t want to acknowledge my identity as real or valid. They truly didn’t see me as human. The team and the coaches are still welcome back this coming year, and the only difference between last year and this year is an extra piece of paperwork that they have to sign that makes them promise to abide by our rules with risk of being kicked out of the facilities if they don’t. It’s a slap on the wrist and a second chance that they do after the months of torment they did to me and others.
At the college I work at, some individual and group swim lessons are taught. When there are group swim lessons two lifeguards are required to be out to help with supervising the children. As a rule this makes sense, until you realize it doesn’t matter how few children are attending.
Even if there is only one class with one instructor and one student, we are being required to have two guards out. However if there is only one instructor and one student in a private lesson then we only require one (as long as there aren’t so many people in the pool, blah blah blah nuances).
So basically the same situation requires two different actions based on the name of the lesson rather than the quantity. Keep in mind that there are usually only two guards even when there should be more working the shift, requiring the only two guards to be on deck for hours at a time which no rest or trade outs. And this happens with parties too. Often times there will only be two lifeguards on the shift when there should be at least three so that we can trade out how long we have to be out there for.
Another issue is one of the lifeguard offices in a seperate building than the main one is so hot that you start sweating from walking in the room. It’s been like this for months, with fans on full blast with no effect unless you are right next to it. Several people in various positions of power above me have come in to see this issue and admitted how bad it is and yet nothing has been done to fix it.
And perhaps I would be more tolerant of this if I got paid more than $9.50 an hour. I’m on food assistance that requires me to work at minimum 80/hr a month to keep it, and I don’t always get my 80 from work. I often have to use my hours from art commissions to meet that requirement. It leaves very little leeway as my commissions are not guaranteed. And with the coming school year even less hours are guaranteed because I’m only getting scheduled for three or four shifts each week, and I need to work at least four hours a day Monday through Friday (if I take off weekends) in order to meet this requirement. At best during the school year the shifts on average run from 2 to 3 hours. This is not going to be enough time for me to meet my requirement.
I can’t tell if I have a right to be mad at this last one, but it’s kind of a last straw for me. Lifeguards are required to have an inservice to go over so many skills of the job to keep it fresh in our heads. Usually there are two opportunities in a month to attend one. This month there is only one. It is mandatory, and it’s from 7-10pm. I don’t understand why it’s so late or why there is only one. You can’t even make the excuse that it’s to prevent interference with classes because it’s on a weekend, when most classes aren’t scheduled.