Too Much Info ...... Way Too Much

My day was going along just fine. I was putting clean sheets on the bed and sorting laundry when a truck pulled up to the front of the building. I continued with my chore of the moment while listening for the bell that would announce someone entering the store. So much time passed that I went to look out the window twice. A man was talking on his cell phone and sipping coffee. The driver's door was open and he had one leg on the ground, so I kind of figured he would be coming in eventually.


He did come in and when asked if I could help him, he said he just wanted to know the rates. The rates; well, they depend on what your particular needs are. I hand him a brochure with the rates listed and ask what his electric needs are and how long he will need a site. Since he hasn't got an RV with him I am assuming he is looking for a long-term spot and I am right. He is a pipe-line worker, an inspector that will stay until the "clean-up" crew leaves. All the information I need. I give him the monthly rates and he keeps talking.


He is staying at a campground near the office that he reports to every day and says that he is just looking for a change, that his job will only last another 4 months or so. He goes on to tell me that he is looking at other campgrounds in the area and how awful one of my competitors' campground is and that it is way too expensive and that the park is really unkempt. I listen politely, longing to get started on my laundry so I can fish painting my kitchen cabinets. I nod and murmur appropriately and he keeps talking. Tells me he really likes the campground he is staying in. It is really nice and is so close to his work. I wonder (to myself) why he wants to move and continue listening.


I didn't ask, but he chose to confide that he needs to leave his current location because the campground owners wife is spending too much time at his site. She likes to talk to him and they sometimes talk until almost midnight. He tells me this is creating a "problem" with the woman's husband. Twice I say that I hope he considers my park when making his decision and to have a nice day. He keeps confiding his life story. I will summarize........... He is love with the woman and she loves him. Her husband abuses her and they have been married for 4 years. This is her second marriage. She is independently wealthy and holds a masters degree and wants to move to Montana with him and teach at a college. She won't leave her husband. He really loves her and doesn't know what she sees in him. This happens to him all the time, he doesn't know why, but women are just attracted to him. I am standing and listening and wishing he will leave, so I take this opportunity to inject a comment, "I don't want to burst your bubble, but I feel the need to tell you that I am not attracted to you in the least." He keeps talking, proclaiming his love for this woman and wondering what she sees in an old pipe-liner like him.



The birthday boy had gone to fill a prescription and run a couple of errands, so I was alone. Never felt uneasy; just a little annoyed and appalled. Thank the goodness the phone rang and I bid him a good day again. I talked to a recording and pretended to take a reservation so that he would leave!