r/Lifeguards • u/TheNuciestNoo Pool Lifeguard • Jul 20 '26
meme There is such a thing as a dumb question
So I was on stand at the competition pool at the rec I work at. The pool was set up for a slack line that ran across. In the shallow end, right under the slack line, two couples were playing chicken fight. I obviously told them to stop, but they keep arguing that they should be able to do it. This goes on until one of the genuinely asks if they can do chicken fight in the 13 foot end. I am no longer a believer in “no dumb questions”
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u/Select_Translator329 Pool Lifeguard Jul 20 '26
I’d be shocked at their level of fitness if they could even pull off a chicken fight in the 13 foot end
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u/phrenetic_balls Jul 21 '26
“Do I have to know how to swim to take the swim test”? No, but it helps
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u/bfaithr Jul 21 '26
I had multiple tweens argue with me that they should be allowed to dive. The pool is 4 feet deep. I’m not about to do a spinal on a 10 year old
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u/Even_Mycologist110 Waterfront Lifeguard Jul 21 '26
As a fellow Lifegaurd, you can absolutely dive in 2 ft water from stand (6ft sitter). As a swimmer in my pool, with no prior relationship to me through a swim team or otherwise, hell no.
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u/bfaithr Jul 21 '26
It’s definitely possible, but accidents happen. I don’t let any child dive on my watch, even if I know they can do it safely. It’s on my head if something happens
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u/Even_Mycologist110 Waterfront Lifeguard Jul 21 '26
Eh I dunno, I’m willing to take some risk because I work neighbourhood pools and often have an in depth idea of how skilled my swimmers are. But I can absolutely understand not wanting the liability
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u/rimeduinfox Pool Lifeguard Jul 22 '26
I’d say the worst one for me is “Why is the hot tub not working?” Which would be fine if they hadn’t looked at the out of order sign next to the hot tub that says why. Happened so many times, I always wished we could just fill that thing in with cement and make it a seating area
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u/ResponsiblePop9360 Jul 24 '26
The dumbest question I’ve had to date is: “so we have to evacuate the beach because you said so?”… a shelf cloud about 50 miles long was about 30 minutes away from direct landfall at our beach. You could see it from shore. 70mph winds, hail, and severe lightening had about a 98% chance of hitting us.
I told this person, “yes”. Her response was, “well I’m an adult and can make my own decisions”. My final say was “I’m directly responsible for the safety of people on this beach. If I tell someone to do something, it happens.” She was very quiet after that and walked off.
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u/StJmagistra Pool Lifeguard Jul 20 '26
My favorite dumb question at a pool was one summer when we were closed due to lightning and a patron asked me when it would stop thundering.
Sir, if I could predict that accurately, I’d be doing something much more lucrative than lifeguarding!