When Chris told me that he was applying for a job as a lifeguard last month, I have to tell you, I was slightly skeptical. He's not exactly a swimmer; he's more of a linebacker, who happens to play "Call of Duty" and watch "The Office" a lot, rather than doing laps in the pool and practicing CPR. But he seemed to know what he was doing, and it *is in fact gainful employment, so I went along with the idea.
A few weeks into it, and there have been no exciting occurrences at the water park, other than the usual whistle blowing and "No running!!" that goes with being a lifeguard. Until...
...today. It was raining most of the day today. He was wondering what the point was going to be of even showing up at work - we all agreed that the park was probably going to be next to empty. He went, though, since he was on the schedule and needed to show up for his shift. Around 7:00 pm, I happened to be out in the backyard taking pictures for a photography class that I'm enrolled in, and Chris walked through the back gate.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey," he said back at me (going for nonchalance), "Guess what? I saved somebody today!"
And he did - he really did. Apparently a girl jumped off the rope swing into some pretty deep water, and was floundering. Chris wasn't sure for a moment if she was just fooling around with her friends, but the fact that she wasn't able to stay above water clued him in that she really *was in trouble. He dove into the 10' water and helped her get a grip on the flotation device, and all was well. She lived to swing another day.
I think he felt pretty good about this. Since I had my camera in hand, I took this picture of him, just after he told me.
This boy looks pretty proud of himself.
(Yeah, his mom was too.)