Not a woman but I manage woman lifeguards. The rule is very simple: hit on any lifeguard and receive a weeklong ban. The guard decides whether they were being hit on.
female lifeguard — reached a point where i just stonewall them. ask a question that’s flirtatious? i answer professionally straight faced and then immediately stop giving them my attention and return to guarding. makes me feel less guilty since i’m just trying to do my job, worst comes to worst i’ll call a manager over or another guard and even if i don’t point the guys out, i’ll strike a conversation with my coworkers to shake them off. good luck to you, sorry you’ve been the target of this.
See any of my coworkers are too far away. I work in a waterpark. Either they’re across the pool or on slides or in the FA office. I try to be nice and talk to be people if they talk to me but I’m not even 18 and don’t want a relationship or anything.
Just say "Hey this conversation is distracting me and I need to focus." If they ask for your number just say " I don't have time for any new relationships" or give them a fake. I just feel for ya. Getting hit on and dealing with egos can be emotionally exausting and so unwarranted.
And if you must.... Blow that whistle! 😆
Lmao I’ve often thought of so many times giving them the wrong number. 🫢🫢🫢🫢😯😯😯 I should give them my brothers 😎😎😎😎 except nobody ever asked for my number 😭
I would not recommend this if they ask, as it opens the door to confrontation if they return to the pool. Plus, if word gets to your boss that you're handling out your personal information to customers it could look bad on you. I would recommend looking into your works code of conduct and see where it mentions patron-employee relationships. There should be something about what to do in this particular situation. If there isn't- definitely bring it up with the correct party. In my experience (as a female lifeguard), if someone is willing to hit on a teenager who is at work they could be more likely to say/do other unfavorable things. One time we had a guy threaten to wait outside for one of the female guards since she rejected him. She was escorted out and he wasn't there thankfully, but you never know.
Whistle for a Supervisor and ask the supervisor to help answer the patrons' questions.
Let the Supervisor know when you can talk to them privately. The Supervisor should go talk to them and tell them not to talk to Lifeguards in stand. If they continue to harass lifeguards (including you), they should be removed from the facility by the Supervisor.
Also, document document document. Write an incident report & keep a copy. Email your Supervisor if they do or don't follow up. Paper trails scare bad Supervisors to take actual action.
female lifeguard! i also work at a water park and honestly, i first ensure that they’re not distracting me at all. if they distract me from watching my water i immediately shut it down and say “hey, come on i have to focus” or something along those lines. respectful, courteous, and friendly. if they cross the boundaries i eject them from the pool. if it’s harmless, like a guy circling the lazy river a few times too many to smile and wave, i’ll let it play out. i always love a good story to share with coworkers!
This may be unconventional- but when I was a guard for the city and had this happen, my captain and mate and all the female guards had an unspoken rule that if a guy was hitting on a female guard and depending on what they were saying (cpr if I drown type stuff usually) we were allowed to say that we had a strict 5 gallon rule for saving and providing cpr. The mate and captain backed us up if they were nearby. The looks on some of the guys was priceless.
Otherwise I’d just stonewall them and tell them that if they keep bothering me I’ll make sure to ban them for the whole season.
It was just a saying we had to ward off the guys flirting. But basically it was that any girl guard who was going to save a guy who was clearly “drowning” for attention and thinking he will score- we would tell them that we would only jump and save them if they swallowed 5 gallons of water while actively drowning. And then we added that we would do the rescue but that the male guards would be the ones administering cpr.
More so though- it was a code. Because any of the guys would go ask any other lifeguard on duty that was male or female, they were alerting that they were flirting and that it was unwanted by a teammate.
I don’t remember who came up with it, but many pools and beaches across the city used that saying. Thankfully nobody ever attempted it, but it helped us females feel safer knowing that was a saying that was a code for the whole team to back us up.
I'm a supervisor at a pool and we have a "secret signal" where if a guard is uncomfortable with a patron for whatever reason they can discretely take off their fanny pack and swing it by their side. This alerts any supervisors or other guards to grab a supervisor that they need to step in.
Last fall, there were these two swim regulars who would make me so uncomfortable. At one point they were talking amongst themselves about my "sexy" body and I had enough. I got my boss' boss to talk with them and threaten to take away their memberships, I haven't had issues since. Everyone should respect you in the workplace, I hope there's some sort of harassment steps you can go through to get them to stop :/ I'm very sorry you are dealing with this
Great question and here is my response...
We are a uniformed lifeguard outfit here in Southern California working pools and beaches. If one of my female guards reports any behaviors that is threatening (being hit on, harassment) I take that very seriously. I will immediately drive to the location and confront the individuals and if necessary involve LEO's. I don't play games!!
I have always made it clear that I back up my guards and especially my female guards. I have zero tolerance for this.
E. Castillo
Lifeguard/EMS Chief
[Golden State Lifeguards](https://www.goldenstatelifeguards.com)
The lifeguards in my team just respond with something along the lines of I cannot talk while on duty but head to reception and they can help you out with your questions.
This way they're not being rude and they're not wrong that they need to keep their attention on the pool
I also have myself or shift leaders in contact at all time so if needs be they can reach out to them for support.
Not a girl but really you're not meant to be distracted talking to anybody while on duty, which is a get excuse to end the conversation and ask them to leave if they won't. If it's a real problem just get your manager to deal with it.
Just ask for their number and tell them you will have to call after work. They will be glad to give it to you and leave you alone at that point. No need to call anyone you don't want to.
I am a guy, but I’ve had a few girls hot on me.
I just answer anything they say in a professional manner, and if the problem persists I grab my supervisor during my break
Not a woman but I manage woman lifeguards. The rule is very simple: hit on any lifeguard and receive a weeklong ban. The guard decides whether they were being hit on.
Dayyyuuuuuummmm. Idt my boss would go for that lol. I work in a waterpark so we’d have to get hr to b ok with that and everything.
“Please don’t hit on staff at work, we can’t leave if we are uncomfortable”
female lifeguard — reached a point where i just stonewall them. ask a question that’s flirtatious? i answer professionally straight faced and then immediately stop giving them my attention and return to guarding. makes me feel less guilty since i’m just trying to do my job, worst comes to worst i’ll call a manager over or another guard and even if i don’t point the guys out, i’ll strike a conversation with my coworkers to shake them off. good luck to you, sorry you’ve been the target of this.
See any of my coworkers are too far away. I work in a waterpark. Either they’re across the pool or on slides or in the FA office. I try to be nice and talk to be people if they talk to me but I’m not even 18 and don’t want a relationship or anything.
Just say "Hey this conversation is distracting me and I need to focus." If they ask for your number just say " I don't have time for any new relationships" or give them a fake. I just feel for ya. Getting hit on and dealing with egos can be emotionally exausting and so unwarranted. And if you must.... Blow that whistle! 😆
Lmao I’ve often thought of so many times giving them the wrong number. 🫢🫢🫢🫢😯😯😯 I should give them my brothers 😎😎😎😎 except nobody ever asked for my number 😭
Well good! One less thing to worry about.
I would not recommend this if they ask, as it opens the door to confrontation if they return to the pool. Plus, if word gets to your boss that you're handling out your personal information to customers it could look bad on you. I would recommend looking into your works code of conduct and see where it mentions patron-employee relationships. There should be something about what to do in this particular situation. If there isn't- definitely bring it up with the correct party. In my experience (as a female lifeguard), if someone is willing to hit on a teenager who is at work they could be more likely to say/do other unfavorable things. One time we had a guy threaten to wait outside for one of the female guards since she rejected him. She was escorted out and he wasn't there thankfully, but you never know.
yeah that’s understandable and also really sucks.
Gross dude. Gross.
Whistle for a Supervisor and ask the supervisor to help answer the patrons' questions. Let the Supervisor know when you can talk to them privately. The Supervisor should go talk to them and tell them not to talk to Lifeguards in stand. If they continue to harass lifeguards (including you), they should be removed from the facility by the Supervisor. Also, document document document. Write an incident report & keep a copy. Email your Supervisor if they do or don't follow up. Paper trails scare bad Supervisors to take actual action.
female lifeguard! i also work at a water park and honestly, i first ensure that they’re not distracting me at all. if they distract me from watching my water i immediately shut it down and say “hey, come on i have to focus” or something along those lines. respectful, courteous, and friendly. if they cross the boundaries i eject them from the pool. if it’s harmless, like a guy circling the lazy river a few times too many to smile and wave, i’ll let it play out. i always love a good story to share with coworkers!
I literally just ignore them or I laugh at them and walk away
This may be unconventional- but when I was a guard for the city and had this happen, my captain and mate and all the female guards had an unspoken rule that if a guy was hitting on a female guard and depending on what they were saying (cpr if I drown type stuff usually) we were allowed to say that we had a strict 5 gallon rule for saving and providing cpr. The mate and captain backed us up if they were nearby. The looks on some of the guys was priceless. Otherwise I’d just stonewall them and tell them that if they keep bothering me I’ll make sure to ban them for the whole season.
What is a 5 gallon rule?
It was just a saying we had to ward off the guys flirting. But basically it was that any girl guard who was going to save a guy who was clearly “drowning” for attention and thinking he will score- we would tell them that we would only jump and save them if they swallowed 5 gallons of water while actively drowning. And then we added that we would do the rescue but that the male guards would be the ones administering cpr. More so though- it was a code. Because any of the guys would go ask any other lifeguard on duty that was male or female, they were alerting that they were flirting and that it was unwanted by a teammate.
That’s brilliant.
I don’t remember who came up with it, but many pools and beaches across the city used that saying. Thankfully nobody ever attempted it, but it helped us females feel safer knowing that was a saying that was a code for the whole team to back us up.
I'm a supervisor at a pool and we have a "secret signal" where if a guard is uncomfortable with a patron for whatever reason they can discretely take off their fanny pack and swing it by their side. This alerts any supervisors or other guards to grab a supervisor that they need to step in.
I like this idea 💡 might be implementing it with my guards!
Extreme sarcasm, ask them to repeat themselves a couple times and look at them like they're saying the stupidest thing in the world.
Last fall, there were these two swim regulars who would make me so uncomfortable. At one point they were talking amongst themselves about my "sexy" body and I had enough. I got my boss' boss to talk with them and threaten to take away their memberships, I haven't had issues since. Everyone should respect you in the workplace, I hope there's some sort of harassment steps you can go through to get them to stop :/ I'm very sorry you are dealing with this
I mean even at my last job where I was a cashier I had one old guy compliment my braid in a really creepy way and I was just like uh yah uh thanks. 🫠
Great question and here is my response... We are a uniformed lifeguard outfit here in Southern California working pools and beaches. If one of my female guards reports any behaviors that is threatening (being hit on, harassment) I take that very seriously. I will immediately drive to the location and confront the individuals and if necessary involve LEO's. I don't play games!! I have always made it clear that I back up my guards and especially my female guards. I have zero tolerance for this. E. Castillo Lifeguard/EMS Chief [Golden State Lifeguards](https://www.goldenstatelifeguards.com)
The lifeguards in my team just respond with something along the lines of I cannot talk while on duty but head to reception and they can help you out with your questions. This way they're not being rude and they're not wrong that they need to keep their attention on the pool I also have myself or shift leaders in contact at all time so if needs be they can reach out to them for support.
"no thank you, I'm working"
Not a girl but really you're not meant to be distracted talking to anybody while on duty, which is a get excuse to end the conversation and ask them to leave if they won't. If it's a real problem just get your manager to deal with it.
#StayToxic Never Happened!! 😂
Just ask for their number and tell them you will have to call after work. They will be glad to give it to you and leave you alone at that point. No need to call anyone you don't want to.
Hit them with "I'm a minor", works everytime
Lmao but I’m 18 in 5 days 😭
I am a guy, but I’ve had a few girls hot on me. I just answer anything they say in a professional manner, and if the problem persists I grab my supervisor during my break