Lifeguarding is such a strange job when you really think about it. Water parks, beaches, and community pools around the world put the lives of their patrons in the hands of bored athletic teenagers, making $12 an hour if they’re lucky. It’s honestly a miracle that there aren’t more drownings at pools, given how undertrained, underpaid, and overworked lifeguards are.  

Sometimes, lifeguards have to deal with problems that have nothing to do with the safety of the swimmers in their vicinity. They’re often treated like customer service representatives for the pools, even though dealing with swimmers’ personal problems is not in their job descriptions. A Karen recently criticized a long-suffering lifeguard for being unable to find her bracelet at the bottom of the 8-foot-deep swimming pool. It might’ve been a reasonable ask if the bracelet wasn’t lost under an artificial waterfall. It is clear that her demands were totally unreasonable.