It's not about the pay. It's about serving your community.

Or, unhappy people cannot be made happy.

That notch in the treeline is the border between the U.S. and Canada. Photo © Julie R. Neidlinger

Theory: We are drowning in laziness and poor work ethic, and parents who enable them both.

The local uproar is about the city being unable to open both city swimming pools because they can’t find lifeguards.

“They’re not paying the kids enough!” was a common refrain from the adults in the comments section of the news article. “You can’t blame those kids for not wanting to serve as underpaid babysitters for parents who just drop their kids off at the pool and expect someone to watch them!”

I don’t know.

I’m willing to bet the generation of kids not willing to be lifeguards today benefitted a few years ago from that very scenario when they were young. Someone was willing to take on low-pay high-responsibility jobs so they could swim out the hot summer days.

And is the pay really not fair?

It’s hard to accept $15/hour isn’t enough when I worked for $5.25/hour much of my life. Sure, inflation. But teenagers aren’t supposed to make a living wage. They’re supposed to learn how to work.