Lifeguarding in OC: $200,000 (Orange, Newport Beach: salaries, beaches, oil)

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by ZhugeLiang

Their benefits and salary do not match the job skills of the average public employee, no way. They get below market-cost health benefits and more lavish pensions that 90% of the workforce, people who's job requirements are little more than a GED.

True. The per diem rate the government pays for a full day is about what I charge for an appearance fee. Adjusting for the fact that three to four hours of an eight hour day in government work is spent sitting around (or rather doing work that is typically done off the job-site), government work pays about 60% of what the private sector does. That's for contractors. The government employees have it a little better thanks to the value of their lavish pension and the benefit package. They're more like 80% of what private sector makes.

[HeyHolliday!]

Considering how fat Americans are these days I can understand why they are well compensated. Imagine saving a 250lb person from drowning. If you wanna experience it yourself buy 5 or 6 45lb weights and try swimming around. Try swimming with all those weights in a rip or when surf is up.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by HeyHolliday!

Considering how fat Americans are these days I can understand why they are well compensated. Imagine saving a 250lb person from drowning. If you wanna experience it yourself buy 5 or 6 45lb weights and try swimming around. Try swimming with all those weights in a rip or when surf is up.

Fat people float better than skinny people.

[Hwy phantom]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Fat people float better than skinny people.

This is true, fat floats.

[HeyHolliday!]

I'm guessing you guys don't go swimming much. Yes, fat does float but we are talking people drowning so obviously they aren't floating that well in the first place.

I personally would much rather have to swim back with a 150 lb person than a 250 lb person. Thats 100 lbs of extra weight the lifeguard has to swim back to shore with. Also don't forget to add the possibility of waves, currents, and rips into the equation. Its not as easy as it sounds.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by HeyHolliday!

I'm guessing you guys don't go swimming much. Yes, fat does float but we are talking people drowning so obviously they aren't floating that well in the first place.

I personally would much rather have to swim back with a 150 lb person than a 250 lb person. Thats 100 lbs of extra weight the lifeguard has to swim back to shore with. Also don't forget to add the possibility of waves, currents, and rips into the equation. Its not as easy as it sounds.

So why does that justify $200k for a desk/Jeep jockey?

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

So why does that justify $200k for a desk/Jeep jockey?

I'll bet many of these guards do have college degrees.

I know plenty of folks who sit at desks, don't have a college degree and make comparable, even in less expensive areas. That's not that much income we're talking, especially with the cost of living along the South Coast. However, if you're young, probably as many are on here and aren't from a high cost area, it sounds like a fortune.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I'll bet many of these guards do have college degrees.

I know plenty of folks who sit at desks, don't have a college degree and make comparable, even in less expensive areas. That's not that much income we're talking, especially with the cost of living along the South Coast. However, if you're young, probably as many are on here and aren't from a high cost area, it sounds like a fortune.

Considering what the median income is in OC, even for people with college degrees, that's still a hell of a lot of taxpayer money. From Newport Beach's wikipedia page, "According to a 2008 US Census estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $110,511, while the median family income was $162,976.[15] Males had a median income of $73,425 versus $45,409 for females. The per capita income for the city was $63,015." Besides, no one said they had to live in Newport.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by technocrat

Kardashians(spelling?)

Spelling good.

[RedJacket]

I think some of you folks watched too many slow motion shots of the Baywatch cast running to save someone from drowning.

The pay and benefits the OC lifeguards receive is out of whack.