Lifeguards

I exercise in the "small" pool at the aquatic center, which is really a heated pool used mainly by us old timers during the day.  I often am the person in the pool, yet the rules require that I have a lifeguard.

The lifeguards are young people, either seniors in high school or college students. They change stations every fifteen minutes, and I am usually there about 45 minutes, so that means I get to talk to three of them almost every day.

I greet each one with, "What's new?"  I expect them to entertain me because face it, exercise is just plain boring. So they tell me their plans, about their boyfriends or girlfriends, about the cars they drive, the sports they play, and what they expect out of life.  

One young man has two sailboats, one he bought and one he just finished building.  He told me in the winter, he likes to sail iceboats on Green Bay. He plans on sailing around the world some day.

Another is going into the Marines in January. I worry about his future, but keep my concerns to myself.  One is just completing his EMT training and soon will be working with the fire department. An Oneida was working on the grants he can expect from the tribe. Casino money will pay for his education.

The girls tell me of the struggles to pay for their educations. They have so many choices to make, which universities to attend, which careers to pursue.  My generation opened doors for them.  I am glad to see them walking through.

Yesterday, two of the guards were having a push up contest to see how many they could do.  Every five minutes they did ten, which interrupted our conversations but amused me.  I am still not old enough to stop admiring muscular young men.

These hours at the pool keep me young.