Boundaries and the Florida lifeguard

“Lifeguards are supposed to save lives, right? Well, several lifeguards in Florida were temporarily out of jobs this week after one of them saved a man from drowning on a stretch of beach north of Miami -- and then was fired for doing so..“

Just in case you’re wondering, he was offered his job back but he declined.

This story reminds me of my own time as a lifeguard. It was actually my first job in Canada.

I had just graduated high school, where I had been part of the swimming team. My plan was to get certified for lifeguarding by the Royal LifeSaving Society and then become a ski Instructor with CSIA.

As for the lifeguard, his case poses some interesting issues: to properly guard the entire shoreline, the city needs to hire more lifeguards but it only has money to cover a specific area. If they don’t enforce that particular perimeter, they can be found liable for anything lifeguards choose to cover through their own actions. This is why the supervisor was actually doing his or her job by firing this likeable fellow.

I’d like to write much more than I have (including about the lifeguards in a pool next to me), but I don’t have the time right now – I’ll come back to finish it later.

Sources / More info: LAT-lifeguard

Toronto Libertarian, lifeguard, swimming, lawsuit, Florida, drowning, boundaries (Tags)