So, One Summer at the Pool... - #KiddingMe Contest

I Found a Melted Candy Bar

When I was 16, I finally got my first boyfriend. His name was Gary. After years of rejection from former crushes, I was determined not to mess this relationship up. So, when Gary got a summer job making burritos and loudly welcoming in guests (bet you can't guess where he worked), I wanted to show him I wasn't some mooch. I needed to get a job too.

After a few weeks of searching, I landed a gig making subs at a local fast food chain. Unfortunately, it turned out I was the world's slowest sandwich maker, and I was fired after a month. My dreams were dashed, but I wasn't giving up that easily.

Luckily for me, my parents had forced me to do swim team every summer since I was six. What that meant was I was a perfectly adequate swimmer. I even won 2nd place once (out of four people) in breaststroke. And so, I used my perfectly adequate swimming skills to train as a lifeguard for a nearby country club.

After passing training, I joined a lifeguard team of five other broke teens under the direction of our fearless leader, Aaron. Now, Aaron wasn't just a regular manager... he was a cool manager. He was a college senior who had loads of experience running a pool. And he knew how to have a good time.

Almost every night after the pool closed and we were finished cleaning, we had impromptu pool parties with our favorite tunes playing and some good old-fashioned fun. There was a huge water slide in the main area, and we'd form a train and all go down at once. (Side note: do not try this when the slide has just been waxed.)

Now, this job wasn't all fun and games. Given this was a country club, we could assume that the folks at this pool had money. And sometimes when people have a lot of money, they can lack manners and think the rules don't apply to them. On countless occasions, we were berated by rude parents and driven crazy by rowdy, spoiled children. One time, I had to blow my whistle to warn a boy to stop running by the edge of the water. I was then chewed out by the boy's grandmother because "how dare I discipline her precious grand baby!"

One day, after a particularly nasty incident, Aaron decided enough was enough. He devised a plan and assigned each of us a part to play. Aaron went out and brought back a melted Snickers bar in a paper bag. One of my coworkers then planted said-melted candy bar in the kiddie pool during the next break. My role was to find it. After several minutes, I walked by where I knew the bar was sitting in the shallow water. I blew my whistle and announced that someone had an accident in the pool. Everyone quickly cleared the area, and we got to close the pool early that day.