Swim Instructor

Nicole Ostertag

Swim Instructor. Sounds great, right? You get to teach little kids how to not drown in the water and get a tan outside all day. That part was not too bad.

The part where I left every day with scratch marks from the ones who freak out from trying to float on their back? I guess that was kind of annoying.

While the job was rewarding and the people I worked with were great, there was one thing I never could really get over when it came to my job.

That absolute worst part was that at least every other week, we would have an “accident” in the pool. Some non-suspecting swim instructor like myself would be demonstrating front crawl and come out of the water to see a lovely brown surprise floating next to him or her. Sure accidents happen, but working at a public pool for swim lessons meant that they happened A LOT. It also meant that I was right there in the water with them. WORSE YET, after they scooped the un-welcomed piece of excrement out of the pool, they would add a little extra chlorine and have us KEEP SWIMMING/TEACHING IN THE SAME SPOT! Talk about gross.