First Save

There's always that one moment in your life where things change and the very thing you always joke about or feel that will never occur to you, does. The first time I had to jump in and save someone at work was not so much a traumatic experience as it was a lesson.

            That Saturday felt like any day before it, just another day that would be routinely finished. Little did I know at the time that things would be a little different. I woke up that morning feeling surprisingly good being that I actually got to sleep in till noon that morning. I woke up at 12:16 giving me enough time to jump in the shower and brush my teeth before work. Unfortunately sleeping in has its price and I knew I was running the clock already so making breakfast was out of the question. I quickly searched for my wallet, keys, and phone and just as soon as I did I sprinted out the door. Luckily, I had eaten a lot the night before because a day at work without eating is just asking for a migraine.

            I put the keys in the ignition and started up the engine. The drive belt made the same high pitched screeching sound it usually does when I turn it on ,but this time no one was around so I didn't care so much about the noise. "I've gotta fix that", I thought in my head, and then a mental note had entered my thoughts, "12:38!!! I gotta get to work!!" Just as quickly as I had phrased that in  my head I pulled out of my driveway and headed for the Y. The drive was not as bad as it could have been with no moron's on the road or construction work the only real thing slowing me down were the street lights. Of course being the professional driver that I  am I managed to stay the speed limit and cut down on time allowing to clock in at work right at 12:58. "Ha!! Made it" I shouted with content in my head.

            If I had known how work was going to be that day I would have never gone, but like they say everything happens for a reason. When I had finally made my way to the guard room I greeted Kelly and Tom since all the other morning staff had already left, only to be greeted back with a," Dude work is going to suck for you". "Yea, Kodie is not coming in and neither is Scott because of in-service", Kelly added. "So wait that leaves just me and Bryton?", I replied. "Yea", Tom had answered. "Wow", I remember was the only word that resonated in my thoughts as my mind had just suddenly filled with rage. I was angry, I hated when people didn't work their shifts, and I knew they had perfectly good reasons, but I also knew that work with just two guards would be a ridiculously slow afternoon. I couldn't be any more right as work that day certainly did seem to drag out becoming increasingly unbearable with every passing rotation. Seeing how each rotation occurred every 15 minutes, but with only two guards none of us could go on break we just had to keep switching pools, as to stay awake and cool down from the extreme heat there always was in the family pool.

            Thankfully, the in-service crew had come into the lap pool to practice all the life saving techniques, and during that time we only had to watch one pool giving us a minor 15 minute break which on any given day is terrible, but for the moment it was all we needed. That "grace period" only lasted about an hour and by 3:30 we had found ourselves on our own again. Bryton and I had once again routinely switched up every 15 minutes holding idle conversations to help pass the time by. Even that didn't help though as the heat from the pool and the amount of people who had been endlessly coming in just kept us annoyed. We were both tired and just wanted to get off work as the afternoon had stretched far enough for us.

            With only an hour left I switched into the lap pool for one of the last times. I scanned the area as usual finding only three swimmers. "Simple", I thought. Just then a family with four children came in wanting to take the swim test for one of their children. The kid approached me at the stand and asked for the swim test, which was surprising to say the least as that's usually the parents job. I nodded my head and jumped off the stand. He then started asking me questions about the swim test, so I knew this wasn't his first time. Judging by how knowledgeable he was of the whole situation I  didn't think anything of it and let him take the test, that was my mistake. He jumped in and began to tread water. I noticed that his head had begun to go under water but kids did that all the time whenever they tried to stay afloat. This time it was different though as he had came up just barely propping his head out from the surface and in a gargled voice shouted for help. In that second I lost it I couldn't believe this kid was drowning right before my eyes. It felt like a flash because one moment I am watching this child struggle the next I was in the water holding him up for his mother to grab him.

            The kid climbed out the ladder by the side of the pool and his mother took him back to the family pool. I guess it must have been a usual thing for him because she never thanked me for it nor thought much of it from what it seemed, since the whole time she had remained motionless. When I had gotten out of the water Bryton quickly asked what had happened and told me briefly about how that kid was known to always fail the swim test and that he should have known better. Of course after the save this had come to no surprise. I was drenched though so I took off my shirt and found some spare shorts in the guard room. I put my wet clothes in the sauna to help speed up the drying process and just after that I was back up guarding, this time for the last thirty minutes.

            The day after that became like any day with me heading to Bryton's to hang out after work. But, that save was significant, it made me feel accomplished. Not many guards have ever actually saved people and I was now able to join those ranks. I never thought that it would occur, but I guess nobody does. It is such a random event when it does happen, and that day things could have been a lot worse had I not responded quicker. This event changed it for me I now know why it is always stressed to pay attention because you need every second to save that person's life. With that in mind I've changed the way I act in work and try to be more serious because no matter what only time will tell when I find myself back in the water trying to save someone.