[Paddlewise] Baywatch, no kidding!!!

I have been nursing a bad cold this weekend and feeling sorry for myself
that I couldn’t go paddling.  So lots of sleep and lots of TV.

So I was flipping channels yesterday afternoon when my eyes locked into
the start of a Baywatch Hawaii episode.  The bodies are knockouts and I
thought it would be soothing just to look at the incredible bods on the
female lifeguards.  It was but then I started getting caught up in the
main story line of the day.  It was one we were talking about-- on when
and what to say to people who may be endangering themselves.

The story revolved around one of the supermacho lifeguards, Jason, who
in the beginning of the episode does a dramatic rescue on a jetski of
some surfers stranded on wave thrashed rocks.  He takes much too much
risk in doing so and his boss, tired of his devil-may-care attitude,
decides to can him but then gives him one more chance after some
stroking by the babe lifeguards at their body language best.

Jason is assigned to a beach with crashing waves that is favored by
heavy duty surfers.  It is a dangerous spot with a history of serious
injuries.  Jason is all gung ho as he sees it as a chance to redeem
himself with some dramatic rescues but the head lifeguard lays down the
situation. He doesn’t want Jason to think that he should be measured by
dramatic rescues but rather by the situations he can prevent.

“This is all a matter of risk management,” says the head lifeguard. 
This goes right over Jason’s head as he can’t understand the concept. 
The head lifeguard simplifies it. “Okay, we have two or three basic
elements here, mainly the ocean and people.” In a typical dialectic
approach, he works Jason through the situation.  What can we control?
Certainly not the ocean; it is going to do what it is going to do.  We
could manage the risk by eliminating the people part of the situation,
i.e. prohibit everyone from going out on the water at that beach.  But
they agree that you can’t really do that, since the water is certainly
within the skill level of better surfers, who indeed are seen riding
waves in the background safely.  So what we need to do in try to assess
situations before they develop, i.e. spot people who shouldn’t be going
out there and talking to them.

At the point, the head lifeguard points to a couple with two pre-teen
daughters carrying small foam swimboards who are getting ready to head
out.  He sends Jason over to talk to them.  He does a nice job.  He
starts by introducing himself and then recounting the type of injuries
that have happened on that particular stretch of beach.  Jason explains
why the danger, basically waves breaking close to shore that can slam
you without mercy into the hardpacked sand.  But Jason isn’t a spoil
sport.  He tells the family.  “Look, just a third of a mile over there
is x beach and lagoon.  The water is calm and not at all stirred up. 
Your daughters can float on their boards and see the many fish swimming
around.”  The family thanks him for giving them an alternative.

The head lifeguard is pleased and leaves the beach to attend to some
other duties.  Now Jason is left alone and quite taken by this risk
management thing.  He now spots three guys in their late teens or early
20s.  Something about their equipment and looks tells him they are not
from around there.  So he goes over to them with his newly found risk
management imperative.  He does approach them quite nicely but this
situation is different.  These are three macho guys who immediately get
their backs up to any implication that they don’t know how to surf. 
Jason has made it clear that these are pretty heavy waters that take
some knowledge to surf well.  But the guys will have none of this.  The
louder of the bunch challenges Jason.  “What about those guys out
there?”  Jason says the guys out there have been doing this for years
after having worked up to it in varying sea conditions.  But the macho
guys get their backs up even more.  Finally the loudmouth says “Do you
have the _authority_ to tell me I can’t go out on the water?”  Jason
says no.  The guy then laughs, insults Jason by calling him a cabana boy
and the three buddies go out with smirks to surf the waves.

Well, sure enough, the loudmouth gets into something too much to handle,
gets slammed into the beach. Jason rushes to his aid in shallow water
and, pretty certain that the guy has injured his neck or spine, supports
his neck, gets him on a board, etc.  But it looks like the guy will
probably be crippled for life.  Later, Jason keeps kicking himself
thinking that he had somehow managed the situation with different words
or a different approach, he could have prevented this, i.e. managed the
risky situation.  His boss calms him down telling him that some people
just are not going to listen no matter how you phrase it.

All of this is what we were talking about during the week and it all was
played out in a Baywatch Hawaii episode.  So, the next time your SO
finds your nose glued to the screen at the Baywatch bods, tell ‘em that
you are really watching for the inherent water-related lessons.  Show
‘em this post if you wish as proof.  Kinda like the old line about
buying Playboy for the interviews.  :-)

ralph diaz

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Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
"Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
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