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[RTH10260]

From Mr Vs twitterquote upthread, interesting background on the US lifeguards

US lifeguard shortage may mean summer pool closings
You may have to "Swim At Your Own Risk" this summer.

By Haley Yamada
June 09, 2022, 9:57 PM

This summer, Americans across the country are going to have to find new ways to beat the heat. A nationwide lifeguard shortage is expected to leave thousands of public pools closed and beaches under “Swim At Your Own Risk” rules.



Although exacerbated by the pandemic, Fisher said that lifeguarding has been on the decline for decades. Some of this is in part to the decline in teenagers working summer jobs.



In 2000, more than half of the teenagers in the U.S. were working a summer job. In 2019, only 35.8% of teens worked over the summer. The number dropped even more during the pandemic and fewer than a third of U.S. teens worked in the summer of 2020, according to a 2021 study by the Pew Research Center.

Fewer teenagers are entering the workforce, and, due to the pandemic, many lifeguard certification training sessions were postponed or canceled. Now entering the third summer of COVID-19, for those who may have already been certified, their two year lifeguard certificates have expired, leading to an even larger deficit of working lifeguards.

“[Lifeguard] candidates come into the workforce at the age of 15, 16, 17 years of age, and usually stay with us until their junior or senior year of university,” said Fisher. “With the first year of the pandemic. We didn't get the new recruits. We didn't have the ability to renew the certifications that were expiring from two years prior.”

Fisher said that the pandemic also disrupted seasonal lifeguards who come to the U.S. through the J-1 visa program over the summer. The program was established In 2011 by the federal government for scholars, professors and visitors obtaining medical or business training within the United States.




more at the link https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-lifeguard- ... d=85240100

[Foggy]

I admit, we didn't make our boys get summer jobs until last year, when they were 19 and 21. Whereas by the time I turned 21, I had been a paperboy in two different cities, a weekend worker in a lumber yard, a Sunday replacement for the caretaker of an island clubhouse in the Potomac River, a house painter, and a worker in a waterbed factory in San Francisco. Plus, of course, the summer I lived at the nude beach on Russian River.

On the bright side, they're making $15/hr. this summer, and really enjoying the work.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Hubby was a lifeguard last century. I would definitely have had a crush on him had we lived in the same town.

[Sam the Centipede]

Ship was usually faster

Yes, a ship sails all day and night, horses move at roughly walking pace, follow a longer route on winding roads, and are exposed to danger from highwaymen, bandits, etc.

So faster, safer, more comfortable (except in storms), what's not to like?

Even in the 17C, rivers and coastal navigation were widely used in preference to ru
muddy, rutted roads. After the Western Roman Empire (with it's network of high quality military and civilian highways) folded in 5C, many parts of Europe, including Britain, did not develop road systems of comparable quality and extent until 18C.

[neonzx]

I admit, we didn't make our boys get summer jobs until last year, when they were 19 and 21.

Helicopter mom struck again?

Whereas by the time I turned 21, I had been a paperboy in two different cities,

*high-five* Paperboy here at age 12!

[Volkonski]

Key points:

The HMS Gloucester was travelling from southern England to Scotland.

You can walk from southern England to Scotland. You can also ride a horse. The ocean is dangerous, but lucky ducks, you can make the trip without ever leaving the soil of England and Scotland. In 1979 I took a train from Scotland to southern England, which is way more safe than an old sailing ship.

Why in the world would anyone want to be on a ship going from southern England to Scotland?

By 1682 James' conversion to Roman Catholicism had become public knowledge. Attempts had been made in Parliament to exclude him from succession to the throne. James was not personally popular. His assassination had been called for.

A sea voyage may have seemed safer than a long slow overland trip during which assassination might have been attempted.

[Whatever4]

Key points:

The HMS Gloucester was travelling from southern England to Scotland.

You can walk from southern England to Scotland. You can also ride a horse. The ocean is dangerous, but lucky ducks, you can make the trip without ever leaving the soil of England and Scotland. In 1979 I took a train from Scotland to southern England, which is way more safe than an old sailing ship.

Why in the world would anyone want to be on a ship going from southern England to Scotland?

By 1682 James' conversion to Roman Catholicism had become public knowledge. Attempts had been made in Parliament to exclude him from succession to the throne. James was not personally popular. His assassination had been called for.

A sea voyage may have seemed safer than a long slow overland trip during which assassination might have been attempted.

Not to mention a sea voyage means you don’t have to pack and unpack your entourage every night. Also, no train in 1682.

[Volkonski]

[raison de arizona]

We are living through a significant event in John Deere history.

966470A0-22DA-420F-A1A0-1722B817CA86.jpeg (228.76 KiB) Viewed 707 times

[MsDaisy]

These are my grandbrats. I keep them (now that summer is here) 3 days a week. M-T-W and as you can see, here they are on a balance beam on the pool deck and the pool is pretty much the only place they want to be on theses 30 wooded acres at this time of year. But I'd like to direct your attention to their feet. 4 feet, 4 difference socks. I have never seen them come over here wearing a pair matching socks. "Two feet need 2 socks that's all". They don't have to match you just need two. I'm ADHD, left handed, dyslexic and have multiple obsessive-compulsive disorders. One of which is that your frigging socks need to match! I've given up on them ever wearing matching socks...

Grandbrats.jpg (97.48 KiB) Viewed 688 times

[AndyinPA]

My eight-year-old grandson always puts his shoes on the wrong feet. Drives me crazy, and I am not OCD.

[sugar magnolia]

These are my grandbrats. I keep them (now that summer is here) 3 days a week. M-T-W and as you can see, here they are on a balance beam on the pool deck and the pool is pretty much the only place they want to be on theses 30 wooded acres at this time of year. But I'd like to direct your attention to their feet. 4 feet, 4 difference socks. I have never seen them come over here wearing a pair matching socks. "Two feet need 2 socks that's all". They don't have to match you just need two. I'm ADHD, left handed, dyslexic and have multiple obsessive-compulsive disorders. One of which is that your frigging socks need to match! I've given up on them ever wearing matching socks...

Grandbrats.jpg

Our kids went to parochial school so their socks had to match and be a specific color. I bought the exact same size and style of socks in multiple 12 packs at Sam's. We'd have 100 identical socks and they couldn't manage to find 2 each half the time.

[Azastan]

We are living through a significant event in John Deere history.

Did you know that there are four different types of moldboard plows?

Moldboard plows can exacerbate soil erosion if improperly used. And by exacerbate, I mean tons and tons of soil lost to erosion. But fear not, there are still quite a few firms making moldboard plows if a farmer is inclined to want to use one.

[RTH10260]

[Foggy]

We are living through a significant event in John Deere history.

I dated a tractor saleslady for a while ...


When we broke up, she sent me a John Deere letter.


Okay, some of you (MN-Skeptic) have heard that on the Virtual Meetup.

[Maybenaut]

*high-five* Paperboy here at age 12!

So was my brother. He’d make me do his route for him and beat me up if I didn’t. I was 10.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Ms. Daisy -

Your grandkids are avant garde green fashion setters. Why must one wear matching socks if none are available? Plus, what does "matching" mean? It doesn't solely mean "identical". Throwing away single socks adds to clothing pollution.

Please note the socks on the left have matching color if not style. The socks on the right reflect the opposite ends of the color spectrum. Too, also the white sock has a black logo, thus "matching" the black one.

So saith the self-appointed Fogbow Fashion Editor as I was the one to start the Fashion thread.

My grandgurlzz visit next week. I shall duly submit pics of their clothing for comments.

[Volkonski]

[Phoenix520]

I was late to a softball game once and grabbed two socks on the way out the door. That day we won and I hit a triple, so I kept wearing these socks for games.

“Your socks don’t match”
“I know! Aren’t they fun? I have another pair just like them at home.”

[Maybenaut]

I have had two kinds of socks. White socks and black socks. And I quit wearing black socks when I retired from the military. I got rid of all my black socks and all of my white socks except for a particular brand, and that's all I wear now (when I wear socks). Now I have a sock drawer full of single white socks, but it doesn't matter because they all match.

[Volkonski]

[MsDaisy]

I was late to a softball game once and grabbed two socks on the way out the door. That day we won and I hit a triple, so I kept wearing these socks for games.

“Your socks don’t match”
“I know! Aren’t they fun? I have another pair just like them at home.”

[mojosapien]

[AndyinPA]

I was late to a softball game once and grabbed two socks on the way out the door. That day we won and I hit a triple, so I kept wearing these socks for games.

“Your socks don’t match”
“I know! Aren’t they fun? I have another pair just like them at home.”

They sell sets of mismatched socks. I had them ten years ago, I bought my granddaughter a few pairs when she was a couple of years old (had been choosing her own clothes since she was 16 months), but she wouldn't wear them then. Now, she's occasionally wearing mismatched socks, and they aren't the ones I bought her seven or eight years ago.

[northland10]

When I was a kid, mismatched socks would cause others to make fun of you. Of course, now, you see black athletic socks. In my day, black socks with shorts were a no-no, and even getting kids to wear dark socks with blue or black slacks, on stage, was like pulling teeth.

Times have changed.

I haven't. I don't where whimsical socks. I have, however, worn white socks with black "khakis"* for my day job, but I do that from home (though I still do a lower business casual while working from home.. i.e. I will wear jeans but still collared shirts, etc).

* I know. Black khakis are not, well, khaki but that seems to be the general name for those now. Blame Dockers.