Observations of a beach badge seller/checker

I have been checking and selling beach badges at a beach in NJ this
summer. I have seen some funny things and also some things that I think
some people should be made aware of.
Men-if you are man-scaping-chest, arms, legs....a 2 or 3 day growth is gross...and I am a senior woman so imagine what the younger set may think...
Women-if your bosom has seen better days-tighten up the straps of your suit...I
cannot believe how many women I see whose straps are loose and those
bosoms are flat and really hanging down...just tighten the straps ...it
is not a pretty sight.....
Overweight people....good for you to have the nerve to put on a suit and enjoy the sun...I have not seen any overweight persons, male or female who have been suited in a suit that is unflattering.

The sign in front of my ticket stand reads: "Under 5 free"-you
cannot imagine how many men have told me that they are under 5 and I so
want to come back with "Inches?". I just may!
Meanwhile, if you see me on a boardwalk somewhere please do say hello and if I do not immediately put a name to the face please forgive me....I have been sitting in the hot sun all day!! beege

I once worked in a tourist information booth for a summer and met lots of interesting people. I hope you write here frequently with your observations. Do you work the same entrance every day or do they move you around?

I think that I am going to be at a specific gate for the rest of the summer...more stories will surely follow!

And here I thought you were walking the beach all day long asking people to show you their badges! Do you at least get a chair and an umbrella? LOL! Look out for the man-o-wars and sharks kiddo.

I work with a woman who is 17 years my senior and her mother works selling beach badges every summer. I can't reveal her mother's age--she fibbed on her application--but let's just say she was about 28 when she had her daughter.

There is a man on my beach who is 80 something andhe has been doing this ever sine his wife died...he said it keeps him busy in the summer. He can tell some stories I bet! He does not work on Sundays because he cooks something Italian for his 3 children and their families and delivers the meals to them. At first I did not want to work on Sundays because I would miss church (Methodists do not have a Saturday option)-but I had to work on Memorial Day weekend on Sunday and I realized, looking out at this pristine beach, early in the morning that I WAS in God's church-I have always felt that whenever I dive into a wave in the ocean that I am being baptized all over again-there is just something about the ocean and God for me....so when I have to work on a Sunday I just attend a different worship service!

bgs said:
I think that I am going to be at a specific gate for the rest of the summer...more stories will surely follow!

I had a summer internship with a teacher who had a summer house at Harvey Cedars, LBI. He complained about the lifeguards at H.C. They sit in the chairs all day, doing nothing. About every 45 minutes, one of them stands up and blows a whistle and sits down again.

Zeke is the HC lifeguard captain and has been a lifeguard at HCfor 38 years. He reports an average of 20 in-water rescues per year.

I guess it all depends on your outlook on life.

Are you saying that there were several drownings while the HC lifeguards were 'doing nothing'?

If not then just maybe they WERE doing what they were being paid to do...

Scully said:
Are you saying that there were several drownings while the HC lifeguards were 'doing nothing'?
If not then just maybe they WERE doing what they were being paid to do...

Rescues are much better than drownings. I think his point was that the guards actually appear to do nothing a lot of the time, but they are still doing their job: Scanning the water to make sure people are safe and not doing anything stupid. (The whistle blowing usually happens when someone is doing something stupid.) If they only spot one person in trouble every week and save them, then the people watching would have to be paying a whole lot of attention to catch them in action.

They look like they are doing nothing. They aren't.

marylago said:
I work with a woman who is 17 years my senior and her mother works selling beach badges every summer. I can't reveal her mother's age--she fibbed on her application--but let's just say she was about 28 when she had her daughter.

On "Storytellers" before playing "Vienna," Billy Joel told a story about how his father had moved there after his parents broke up. As a young man, he visited and while walking with his father, they saw a very old woman working as a street sweeper.

Billy remarked to his father about how sad this was, and his father shot back, "Why? She's got a job. She's happy. She feels useful and she's making the street clean. She's not put out to pasture." That different perspective on aging inspired the song about how "Vienna waits for you."

Interesting. I remember seeing a much older woman in the subways when I was still working in Manhattan. She was always on her way to or from work, but hobbling along very bent over and looking worn out, but well dressed and determined. I felt terrible for her that she had to keep working when she could not have been any less than 75 years old. Perhaps she felt, though, that she was still productive and active and didn't need my pity. Huh.

I agree, but there's a limit. At one law firm I worked at there was a 90 year old woman still working there. She was originally the secretary to one of the original name partners and after all her contemporaries died (or retired), she was still there, so they gave her an administrative title and she came to work every day. She was the nastiest, rudest person I've ever come across and everybody cowtowed to her and kissed her butt. It was a big lesson to me regarding when to call it "quits" and do everybody a favor.

mumstheword said:
I agree, but there's a limit. At one law firm I worked at there was a 90 year old woman still working there. She was originally the secretary to one of the original name partners and after all her contemporaries died (or retired), she was still there, so they gave her an administrative title and she came to work every day. She was the nastiest, rudest person I've ever come across and everybody cowtowed to her and kissed her butt. It was a big lesson to me regarding when to call it "quits" and do everybody a favor.

It depends on the individual.

When I was working on eliminating smoking in public venues, I attended a taping of a debate between a 90+ lawyer who had a program on NY-1 and a shill for the tobacco industry. The lawyer cleaned the shill's clock.

Hi, Beach Badge Checker here-These last two days have been good and bad...good: seeing lots of families, old and young traipsing to the beach with every thing they owned...carrying in every conceivable tote or wagon and enjoying the beauty of the beach and ocean...so many family type reunions and old friends gathering together-and all the people dressed in red, white and blue!! Even little ones...it seems everyone has a story to tell...which is fine because I love hearing them all. The other nice thing about my spot is an older gentleman who lives near my post=his wife was busy up here (the "north") and he was down at their summer house alone. This guy brings me cups of ice, bottles of water and yesterday, two Italian ices-I said "John, you gave me two"-he said "well, you have two hands". How nice is that? He wanted to bring me lunch today and a cod fish that he caught yesterday-thank goodness I was able to talk him out of that.

The bad: two couples that must have come on the beach before we were opened-my beach manager rides a 3 wheeled thing on the sand and he was spot checking to make sure everyone had their badges or bracelets meaning that they had paid to be on the beach. These two couples (I would put their age between 50 and 70) did not have badges or bracelets and told my beach guy that I told them they could come on beach for free. He of course calls me on the walkie talkie and asks me about this and I was practically in tears-how could someone outright lie???????
I told my guy to have the 4 in question come up to me in person with him there and tell him again that I let them on for free. The 4 gathered their things, came up the beach to the boardwalk where I was and walked directly passed me and did not even look at me...right off the boardwalk and down the public access way to street and I guess to their car. This really upset me for a while...but now that I shared with my MOL family I can put this behind me. I have a day off tomorrow to be with my own family and will be back on Monday....Happy 4th of July all.....God bless America!

Wow. That is both the best and the worst of people, isn't it? A man who brings you water and ices, and two couples who lie and cheat. Jeez. It's a shame they involved you in their deception, but I'm sure no one actually believed their lies.

Enjoy your day off, Beege.

I woke up this morning-still hurt by the persons who tried to compromise my integrity yesterday-and then thought of the precious child who came off the beach with her parents and gave me a seashell she found....that brings a smile to my face and a good all over feeling. Looking forward to getting back on the beach again tomorrow.

Wow, those people have a lot of nerve. They probably figured they would get away with it because they got there so early and were almost done with their day. When the guy accosted them they probably just said the first thing that came out of their mouths not figuring they would have to come eye to eye with you. They might have also thought that you had finished your shift and they would not be able to find you. Whatever, the fact that they did not want to make eye contact and went off with their tails between their legs shows they knew their plan did not work--although it kinda did because they did not pay, right?

Yeah, they sort of did get what they wanted, although they were made fools of in the process. I wonder which weighs more with them?

Beege, don't let the turkeys get you down. Anyone who matters knows you have too much integrity for the likes of them.

bgs said:
I woke up this morning-still hurt by the persons who tried to compromise my integrity yesterday-and then thought of the precious child who came off the beach with her parents and gave me a seashell she found....that brings a smile to my face and a good all over feeling. Looking forward to getting back on the beach again tomorrow.

Beege -- Have you ever read "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz? The Second Agreement is: don't take anything personally. (This takes a whole lot of practice.) If somebody who doesn't know you says something about you -- it's on them, not you. They tried to send you poison and if you take it personally, then you take that poison and it becomes yours. Please don't do that to yourself. Let it go, please!

With love,

Mums

bgs said:
seeing lots of families, old and young traipsing to the beach with every thing they owned...carrying in every conceivable tote or wagon

Been there, done that. I remember before having kids going to the beach with a small bag that had a towel, a cover up, a pair of sunglasses, sunblock, and of course car keys and a wallet. Nothing else was needed.

Then we had kids.

Going to the beach with three little kids, two still in diapers, takes more planning and supplies than D-Day.

Thanks all for the support and love that comes with MOL family! The good news for the sneakers is that this happened first thing in the day by about 9AM so they did not get a day in....and Mums- I know what you are saying....it was hurtful and I let myself get down because I felt I had been had.... Spontaneous- if you ever want to come to my beach with your crew have your Mom contact me in advance and I will bring all that you need including beach chairs and you can just bring the crew!!

Today is a new day and I am waiting for the goodness off 99.% of the population to feed my soul! See you on the beach!

xoxoxoxo, beege

Observations-some people should just not wear bikinis-also have noticed that I have not seen any speedos on men at all...not even youngsters-are they out of style? The best thing that happened yesterday was 4 different people bringing me water and cups of ice without me asking for it...and sweet John stopping by with an Italian ice...never realized how good they are!! Have been wondering if people who are tattooed all over their chest and back and arms have ever thought about how they are going to look when their skin starts to sag.

Speedos have become a joke in this country. We have come to expect it of German tourists in Greece or Thailand, but most American men would not have anything to do with them. Think "Borat."

But go easy on the women who "should not" be wearing bikinis, please. I wish I had the nerve, but I don't. So it's a full-coverage tankini for me now. I have a sneaking admiration for the women who wear less at the beach -- they are most likely a bit cooler than I am.

beege, I think John might just have a little crush on you. ; - )

You didn't tell us which beach you're at - how will we know where to find you if we should venture south from "the north"?

I am at Point Pleasant-Jenkinson's Beach-usually the north side between the inlet and Martell's and the Tiki Bar. Come on down!

My husband is going to an event down there tomorrow and convinced me to come along with the boys. We will be sure to stop and say "hello.

I was a checker and supervisor on LBI (Long Beach Twp) for close to 10 years and it was one of the best jobs I ever had. When I was supervisor, I must have walked close to 6 miles a day and was in great shape! I met many great people (and many asshats) and heard every excuse too why they didn't have a badge. Saw tons of things (amusing and scary) and always thought I should write a book some day.

Oh Spontaneous!!! I am not on today..am there Thursday, Sat and Sunday. Will miss seeing you.

hk45-I agree-every possible excuse! Have not had too many incidents where I have had to call people out...so far so good this summer.

How do you get a job as a beach checker?

There was a notice in the Asbury Park Press late winter that there would be a job fair at Jenkinson's on the boardwalk on a Sunday...there was a site mentioned to get an application. I filled it out and went to the job fair and I got a call on Good Friday asking me if I still wanted the job...I went in for an interview and the rest is history.