The Nazi Guard:

I work at a Leisure Facility as the only full-time lifeguard. My position as the Head Lifeguard takes on a lot of responsibility which thus requires me to be strict. If I don't do my job, I am liable for any incident that happens at the facility. The worst part of my job is when I have to re-educate staff on the 'do's and don'ts'. If they are new staff, they usually take it quite well, but if they've worked there for a long time, these people don't like being told what to do. In my head I always think: I'd rather just be lenient and let it go. Except I feel the weight of liability on my shoulders and know from previous years of working at this same facility--as only a casual Lifeguard--the effects when there is a lack of accountability and enforcement.

I always tease that even though our facility is quite small, we still treat it as if we are in the Military of Aquatics. Since I first started lifeguarding at 16, my personality has developed from the 'People Pleaser' to 'Nazi Lifeguard'. Even when it isn't a staff member, in my gut I am still nervous when I have to confront a parent on keeping their child within arms reach because they can drown in less than 10 seconds if they are unattended. Or an arrogant 19 year old in the gym who thinks he is special so he can eat food in the gym, put his dirty shoes on the racks of the weights, and chat to his friend while he sits on a garbage bin. I do my best to approach them the first time politely, but if the conversation becomes aggressive, I don't tolerate it. I follow our protocol, and kick people out when I have to. From these people I have been called, unprofessional, rude, and power-tripping, but I am so glad that I have great staff support.

As I was saying, when it comes to re-eduating the staff, this is the hardest because most of the time I just have to tell them not to do something, then I have to tell the Director so that...

The Nazi Guard:

I work at a Leisure Facility as the only full-time lifeguard. My position as the Head Lifeguard takes on a lot of responsibility which thus requires me to be strict. If I don't do my job, I am liable for any incident that happens at the facility. The worst part of my job is when I have to re-educate staff on the 'do's and don'ts'. If they are new staff, they usually take it quite well, but if they've worked there for a long time, these people don't like being told what to do. In my head I always think: I'd rather just be lenient and let it go. Except I feel the weight of liability on my shoulders and know from previous years of working at this same facility--as only a casual Lifeguard--the effects when there is a lack of accountability and enforcement.

I always tease that even though our facility is quite small, we still treat it as if we are in the Military of Aquatics. Since I first started lifeguarding at 16, my personality has developed from the 'People Pleaser' to 'Nazi Lifeguard'. Even when it isn't a staff member, in my gut I am still nervous when I have to confront a parent on keeping their child within arms reach because they can drown in less than 10 seconds if they are unattended. Or an arrogant 19 year old in the gym who thinks he is special so he can eat food in the gym, put his dirty shoes on the racks of the weights, and chat to his friend while he sits on a garbage bin. I do my best to approach them the first time politely, but if the conversation becomes aggressive, I don't tolerate it. I follow our protocol, and kick people out when I have to. From these people I have been called, unprofessional, rude, and power-tripping, but I am so glad that I have great staff support.

As I was saying, when it comes to re-eduating the staff, this is the hardest because most of the time I just have to tell them not to do something, then I have to tell the Director so that he can have a talk with the employee and make sure that rule gets enforced. After the Director talks to them, that's when I find that there is always tension between the specific staff member and I. I hate that the most, because it was not my intention to get them into trouble. I wish they could just understand that I am just trying to do my job.