As I sat on the beach this last week end of the summer of 2007, I am always amazed at the things that people do. As a 12 year veteran lifeguard (retired for 21 years) I have to ask myself do people even think before they act. Today was no exception.

The first act of genius was a 20ish young man who thought it would be unique and fun to have himself buried up to his neck in the sand...near the water line. As his friends did the deed he was laughing and all smiles. Then when they had completely immobilized his body and hands decided to throw the football they were playing with at his head. The game was to see who could hit him the most amount of times. His girl friend, who should not have been left unattended the way she looked in her extremely tiny bikini, was mortified that HER boyfriend was the idiot buried up to his neck was totally embarrassed. The problem that I had was 2 fold. The first was that as they threw the ball at his head. Did any one think that perhaps they could hit him in the eye causing untold damage? The second was as the tide came in did they consider that he did not have gills? No one did think of these things as he did get hit in the face and had a nose bleed. Fortunately the lifeguards did come over and have him undug before the Atlantic Ocean took him to meet his maker.

Next up on our list was the group of teenage girls that think using baby oil to suntan will get them that great look. Of course none of them used any sunglasses and as they put the oil on their faces and forehead, it leaked down into their eyes. When they blinked in pain as their eyes burned I could only think of how many of them might wind up in my office next week with corneal burns and inflammation. While it is great for business, it is bad for their eye health. I should open a sun glass shack on the beach, it may help pay for my kids college tuition.

Then there is the group of folks that sit for endless hours on the beach facing the sun with out sunglasses or even a hat. As they squint their day away, one must ask if they even thought that some shade might make them more comfortable and protect their eyes. I understand that there are some people that don't like wearing sunglasses, but with the high energy hitting them on their bodies and the high rate of cataracts, skin cancer and macular degeneration they might want to rethink that approach.

The short answer is that when doing any activity using common sense is always a good idea. When outside, please wear good quality sunglasses. In the long run it will help protect your eyes and hopefully avoid many painful eye diseases. I am on my way back to the beach with my Maui Jim sunglasses and my NYU baseball cap. Have a healthy and happy Labor Day.