A Humane Consciousness

He was trained as a lifeguard, and he took his job seriously.  He was also exposed to the rules relating to the company that had hired him to stand guard in a very specific Florida beach area.  If someone was in trouble outside that authorized area, it would be of no concern to the company that hired him, and was to be of no concern to him, either. 

But it just didn't work out that way.

Tomas Lopez took his job seriously enough to respond to an anguished appeal for help in rescuing a swimmer who had entered the ocean in what was identified as an 'unprotected' area, an area of the beach where no lifeguards were on duty.  At 21 years of age, mature and adult enough to know his own mind, Tomas Lopez didn't hesitate when he was approached.


"It was a long run, but someone needed my help.  I wasn't going to say no", he explained.  The man in need of rescue had already been plucked from the water by others by the time Mr. Lopez appeared on the scene.  He assessed the condition of the semi-conscious man and with the assistance of an off-duty nurse, offered their resuscitating services until the arrival of paramedics.

Immediately following the event, he was asked by his employer to fill out an incident report.  And then he was fired from his position.  Mr. Lopez appears to be a forgiving kind of individual.  Although he said he "couldn't believe what was happening", he also said "They didn't tell me in a bad way.  It was more like they were sorry, but rules are rules."

Just as well Mr. Lopez doesn't personally subscribe to that ethos.  "What he did was his own decision.  He knew the company rules and did what he thought he needed to do", his company supervisor had the good grace to admit. 

The company for which she works, and for which Mr. Lopez also briefly worked, has their own idea of humanitarian scruples.

Theirs are enormously wanting; his represent a humane consciousness they appear in dire need of adopting.