In the 1990s, some beach patrols ran a labor scam on the backs of local teenagers. Entities weaponized seasonal exemptions to force minors into grueling 48-hour weeks—six 8-hour days of high-stakes, life-or-death vigilance.Crossing that 40-hour threshold should trigger time-and-a-half pay. Instead, these kids got straight time. While decades of legal loopholes mean zero dollars are legally owed today, the moral debt is staggering. Towns padded budgets with beach fees while shortchanging the kids keeping tourists alive. It wasn’t a dream summer job; it was systemic wage exploitation.