As if dangerous heat, dangerous wildfires, dangerous rip tides, dangerous flooding, dangerous spiders, dangerous mosquitoes, dangerous sharks, dangerous new strains of Covid, dangerous Boeings, and dangerous Supreme Court rulings weren't dangerous enough, this summer we also have to worry about a dangerous lifeguard shortage. So, how do we solve that problem? Raise the pay? GET REAL! If you want to talk some high school or college kid into risking their life over some idiot who didn't wait 30 minutes after eating and got the cramps while treading water, then what you need to do is provide that unformed young person with a role model.
...Turner Classic Movies.
That's right, back in 1926 Bette Davis was not only a lifeguard but the first female lifeguard at Ogunquit Beach in Maine. Imagine almost drowning and having her come to your rescue!
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Unless your last name happens to be Crawford, in which case you might want to think twice before going into the water.
I haven't seen that classic photo of Bette and I had no idea she was a lifesaver. How interesting.
ReplyDeleteShe saved a lot of movies, Andrew.
DeleteSo funny to imagine. And hilarious to imagine Crawford in the water counting on Davis to come to the rescue.
ReplyDeleteMitchell, Crawford would be bobbing up and down in the water, all the while wondering "Whatever Happened to...?"
DeleteNow there's a factoid about Bette Davis I'd never heard before!
ReplyDeleteDebra, I love dishing about screen legends. It brings out the Hedda Hopper in me.
DeleteThere is a lifeguard shortage everywhere. Our local pool had to raise pay and cut back hours.
ReplyDeleteSupply and demand, Mike.
DeleteHello Kirk, Bette certainly had a radiant smile even from those early days.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Jim, I wonder if she was already talking in that clipped New England accent.
DeleteI love Bette! I just recently watched The Feud (story about her and Joan's famous rivalry). Sooo good.
ReplyDeleteJM, originally it was Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins who were rivals, but by the mid-1940s Hopkin's star had faded (and pretty much remains faded despite some good acting), and an older Joan Crawford began trafficking in the same hard-as-nails females that were up to then Davis' specialty, and the feud was on!
Delete