blogslinkslaw.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web viewThe Beach has become run down and understaffed...
Transcript of blogslinkslaw.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web viewThe Beach has become run down and understaffed...
Emily Blaine
English 2089
Dr. Bailie
November 17, 2019
Three summers ago when I turned 16 my parents told me I had to get a job if I wanted to
have a car and freedom. I wanted to work somewhere fun, non-repitive and with people my age.
My sister told me to lifeguard with her at the Beach Water Park, where she had already worked
for a couple of summers. I was very hesitant to do so; I was scared to take the responsibility of
other people’s lives for my first job. However, with the pressure from my parents to find a job
fast, my love to be outside and it possessing the qualities I wanted in a job, I gave in. To become
a lifeguard, you have to go through multiple days of training, tests and getting certified, which
you have to renew every two years. It was tough work, taking written tests, doing 3 swim tests,
learning how to do CPR and practicing water saves, not everyone passes. It does not end there,
on any random day while you are on stand, they will vat you, a visual attention test, where they
put a dummy in your zone and you have to recognize and rescue it within thirty seconds, you get
fired if you fail this test three times. Being a member of the lifeguards has special
multiliteracies. We have specific radio codes, for example “thirty-three” means there was a
lightning strike and we have to get everyone out of the water. Hand signals such as making a
cross with your arms means that you need first aid, making an “x” with your arms means to close
the slide. We have specific words and nicknames for rides and parts of the park, the wave pool
and the attractions around it are considered to be in the zone called south. There are nine spots on
the lazy river that we have to guard, each spot is numbered, and you have to know which spot is
where. We also have whistle codes; one long loud whistle means someone is hurt and everyone
who is a supervisor or on break has to run to that person and preform whatever task necessary.
Two short whistles means you need attention, after blowing the whistle you must do one of the
hand signals that will get you a supervisor, first aid or it lets a supervisor know you need a
restroom break or water. Only the lifeguards need to understand and memorize these
multiliteracies. These are very important because they allow us to get a supervisor, first-aid, a
restroom break and many other things done in an efficient amount of time. All of these different
multiliteracies can be found in the employee handbook, with detailed explanations and pictures.
Being a lifeguard, we all have the same common set of goals, to make sure everyone is
safe and following the rules. This can be tough to enforce, we serve alcohol, which makes many
adults difficult to handle and get to follow the rules and they end up getting kicked out. There are
also a lot of young kids who like to mess around and break the rules causing trouble. Both of
these groups of people are our nightmares, not only do they have trouble following the rules, but
they also find pleasure in harassing the lifeguards. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard
the phrase “So if I drown that means you have to give me CPR right?” They will splash and
annoy you asking so many dumb questions and make rude remarks to you. You are not allowed
to have drinks in the water, it is an Ohio State Law, and people hate that and try to sneak drinks
into the water, or they get angry when you tell them they cannot have them. Sometimes they will
try to reason with you by promising they will not spill it or tell anyone, it is a difficult situation
because we sell alcohol and people want to have it with them, but it is a rule listed on the signs
and it is a law. We have a limited amount of innertubes for the lazy river and on a busy day you
will hear “you need more tubes or can you get more tubes” about fifty times, there is nothing we
can do about it and when you explain that to the guest they just look disgusted at you like it is
your fault.
Being a part of this discourse, I felt a special bond with the other members, spending all
day, every day with the same people in the same place, they have become some of my best
friends. We all experienced the same struggles and suffering. Any job can be fun and if the
people you work with make it fun. Working with around eighty new people each summer, I have
met so many people, heard many stories, and made so many friends, you cannot say that about
most other jobs. This is one of those jobs. They are some of the best people I know, and they are
what makes this job worth going to. Of course, there was a lot of drama but overall everyone got
a long and had a fun time, we had many employee nights where we rode all the slides after the
park closed. A few nights in the summer groups of people will rent out the park after it closes,
these are the best nights, they are fun and energetic, last year when there was the international
untilimate frisbee tournament in Ohio, they rented it out and there was a couple thousand people
who came and it was very cool to meet people from different countries participating in this
event. This job also provides many ways to make the most money possible, there is no limit to
how many hours you work a week, you could work all day every day. You have to show up
thirty minutes before the shift starts and you have to stay about an extra hour after closing to pick
up trash and get everything stacked and ready for the next day. They also offer a two hour
cleaning shift before opening, if you do this with your friends it does not feel like work, also the
month before it opens in the summer you can come in and help paint and get everything ready
for the season, all while getting paid.
According to Swales discourses have artifacts or documents that are important to each
specific discourse and have meaning and actions are based on these. Artifacts important to this
discourse are the whistle because it is allows us to get help from across the park, not being able
to have a phone or radio, the whistle will get attention of a patron who is running so you can tell
them to stop, or it will get you first aid if there is an accident. The employee handbook is
important because it tells us how to act, what all the hand signals and whistle, radio codes mean,
the rules and what to do and say to the guests. The most important document would be the
rotation sheet. The rotation sheet is the thing that hold everything together. First thing you do
when you get to work is pick your spot on the rotation sheet, the earlier you get there, the better
spot you can choose. These sheets have the names of all the slides and spots to go. We can
always tell how a day is going to go, if each rotation has about 6 spots on it, it will be a good day
with full staff, but if all 30 spots are on one rotation you know that we are understaffed that day
and it will suck. Every thirty minutes we rotate to the spot below where you are currently at and
that rotation sheet tells you where to go. If you are looking for someone that sheet will tell you
where they are at all times, it also tells you when you get a break. Without these sheets and
rotations, we would know when or if we would get a break or where to go. This sheet is what
keeps everyone and everything in order and makes sure everyone can get a break.
Shown below is what the rotation sheet looks like at the end of the summer when
everyone has quit or just does not show up for their shifts. It is separated by two sections, slide
tops and lifeguards, slide tops are people who are not certified to guard water and they just stand
at the tops of slides. Due to them not being certified this adds some problems because they
cannot be put on a more important place such as the wave pool. Everything that is crossed off is
attractions that have to be closed because of not having enough staff. Anyone can see that is a
problem, not only for the guests but for us as well. We have to have a person in the break slot in
order to rotate and let people get breaks. There is not a person in it so that means that everyone
will stand in the same spot for five hours with no break and all the supervisors have to go on
stand, they are usually not supposed to go on stand so they can help lifeguards with whatever
they need, when they are on stand this means no water or help if an accident occurs. For the
guests, they are paying for a full priced ticket not knowing that there will only be a few things
open when they get inside the park. That leaves many people furious and wanting refunds. They
of course will complain, ask questions and often yell at the lifeguards for this. Some people are
understanding that we are struggling and understaffed. Most people do not, and they take it out
on us. Most people do not understand that there is nothing that I specifically can do, they will ask
you to open up a slide really quick so their child can ride it, I often want to, but I am not allowed
to do that. I am not allowed to leave my spot for any reason, it is the most enforced rule that we
cannot leave our spot, if you do for whatever reason you will be fired on the spot. I understand
why they are mad; I would not be too happy if I paid money to go to a water park and to only
have the wave pool and one or two waterslides open. Many people take their children to a fun
cheap way to enjoy waterslides with no lines or crowds, like the other waterparks near us. But
once they arrive and realize nothing is open, they wish they would have just spent the extra
money and deal with the lines and crowds instead of paying for two waterslides. On a day when
enough people show up nothing is crossed off and the slide top rotations get broken up into two
different rotations. The lifeguard rotation gets broken up into five or six rotations depending on
how many people are working that shift. We start at the attraction at the top of the list then move
down a spot every thirty minutes until break then you start back at the top of the rotation. The
shorter the rotations are, the more breaks you get and there is less time in between each break.
On days like this everyone is happy and things go smoothly, the lifeguards and the guests are
both happy.
The Beach has become run down and understaffed over the years, but that should be expected
for any water park that is competing with Kings Island and Great Wolf Lodge. In my three years
of working there it has only gone downhill, but my love for it has only grown. We would be sc
heduled every day, sometimes for the long twelve hour shifts multiple days a week. Standing in
the scorching hot sun for hours, receiving few breaks and rude customers. Only few can withstan
d this extreme, as the summer goes, more and more people quit, at the end the only people
who are left are the people who have done it for multiple summers. The few who can actually
make it to the end of the summer all always say “this is my last summer here” but always
come back next summer. We need a little more than one hundred lifeguards employed, we usually st
art off the summer with that many and around mid-July we are left with about fifty and then aro
und the end of the season there are around twenty of us. That means that some days there are
no breaks, many slides and attractions closed and many unhappy people. The park is actually for
sale right now and will probably not open again and I am heart broken, the thought of never spen
ding all day with my friends out in the warm sun getting tan and getting paid. Out of all the job
s I have had I have never been attached
one the way I am attached to this and I look forward to going back each summe
r. Being a member of the lifeguards has taught me so much about myself, working, communicati
on and interaction. The main part of our job is talking to and helping non-members of this dis
course, it is important to know who you are talking to and what you can say, a non-member
would not understand all of our multiliteracies so we have to explain things in a different way
instead of just using the nicknames for things. We have to smile and be polite and as nice as poss
ible to the g