It was the summer of 1996 and I had actually secured a lifeguard job at 40 years old.   I took a lot of opening shifts at 5:00 a.m. in the morning.  All I had to do was sit while the lap swimmers swam back and forth ad nauseam.   I had plenty of time to sit and think about my fate and what I had gotten myself into by going back to school.  

    I remember my lifeguard teacher saying, "Days of boredom, followed by seconds of terror."  Then she would smile a quirky little smile.  It was true. In health care and public safety jobs you could go for weeks and never see a thing go wrong. And then one day...all hell would unleash.  

    In the meantime during the boredom, I would think.  I often thought of the lifeguard training I had just completed...and the remedial training I would do all the time.  It was intense for a guy my age.  My young classmates took it in as if it was just another day, like a walk in the mall.  Most of my lifeguard colleagues were young women of college freshman age.  As well, 99 percent of the nursing assistant students had been women.  And, 65 percent of the emergency medical technician class had been women.  It was an estrogen extravaganza.  It was the 1990s and the face of the culture of the future. 

    In regards to the lifeguard arm of the new American feminine culture, to my naive surprise, much of the lifeguard training had been lifesaving techniques.  Of course it would be, wouldn't it?  We practiced and tested the techniques relentlessly using each other as mock drowning victims.  To my stunned amazement, most of the saving techniques involved wrapping your arm around the victim's chest - very utilitarian, very old-school rescue stereotype.  That would place your hand firmly locked on the victim's....breast.   Reluctantly, I finally had to admit that by the end of the first week of lifeguard training, I had clutched more 18 year old breasts than I had ever touched in the whole of my previous life.  

    "How'd that stressful training and swimming go? Every one thinks you are nuts for doing it at 40," my wife would sometimes ask.

    "It's really hard on someone my age," I would always lie.  

    "Hmmm," she would always return.  

    I don't think she ever bought into my insistence I was languishing away at the lifeguard gulag.  

    Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job.  Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page  for an ordered chronology.

                       Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
    (each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)

    Army Specialist Shaun Allen Novak, 21, Two Rivers, Wisconsin, died Sunday, August 27, 2006 in Taji, Iraq. An improvised explosive device detonated near the Bradley Vehicle he was in during combat operations. Novak was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, out of Fort Hood, Texas. He was one of four soldiers killed in the incident. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted Shaun loved car racing. He graduated from Two Rivers High School in 2003. Novak was remembered as a quiet, well-liked student. He was the son of Randy Novak, a Manitowoc County sheriff's deputy. Shaun had a 15-year-old brother, Danny. The Journal Sentinel also mentioned Novak had taken three years of accounting at Two Rivers High School and was remembered as a good student who enjoyed tinkering with cars. He enjoyed playing baseball, riding all-terrain vehicles, and fished on Lake Michigan. Novak enlisted in the Army in 2004, a year after graduation; his infantry unit went to Iraq December 2005. Novak had taken some classes at the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc County Center after high school. The Website iraq.pigstye.net notes Shaun had plans to pursue accounting or marketing after he would return home. He was known as a strong business student. Novak worked at Port Sandy Bay, a restaurant in Two Rivers, for just over two years. He was known as dependable with a strong work ethic. Novak had expected to return from Iraq for good at Thanksgiving, but was supposed to serve another year in the Army at Fort Hood. The Website shaun-novak.memory-of.com set up in memory of Novak, notes Shaun was born in Two Rivers, Wisconsin on February 12, 1985. The site also notes Shaun enjoyed playing basketball in a local recreation league. He had a Dodge Neon he was fond of. He also liked video games and all other types of electronic gadgets. They mention Shaun was inspired to join the Army to follow in the footsteps of grandfather Stanley Mott, a Korean War Veteran. Shaun attened basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was able to come home for a two-week break from Iraq in April of 2006. Service awards Specialist Novak received include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Ribbon, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terror Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Ribbon, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the Expert Qualification Badge. Wisconsin 2007 Senate Joint Resolution 10 noted that at the time of his death Specialist Novak was survived by his parents, Randy and Brenda Novak, of Two Rivers; brother, Danny Novak, of Two Rivers; girlfriend, Jenissa Karbowski; grandparents, Stan and Shirley Mott, of Two Rivers; and grandparents, Richard and Bea Novak, of Manitowoc; and, great−grandmothers, Grace Novak and Molly Opichka, of Manitowoc. Specialist Shaun Novak was the 60th Wisconsin military service member to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003. 

         As of this blog entry's posting date:

    97,453 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
    
    9,654 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    4,420 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    1243 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    783 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    31,926 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    7,644 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    19 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    142 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org. 

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion