Solitary Supper

Oh how I have missed venting on here! Sometimes you just have to tell someone about a crappy day!

It all began with a phone call. I always identify our business upon answering the phone and admit that I find it annoying when the caller asks if this is Kan-Do Kampground. Even more so when they ask a boatload of questions  and make a reservation, then say they thought they were talking to a different campground. I have become accustomed to it and was not surprised when the caller asked yesterday.

After confirming that she was talking to the campground she had called (don't they look at the name with the number?) she announced that she was Josephine Blow ( Joe Blow's wife) and wanted to know if I remembered her. I gave her the same answer I give everyone, that I am sure I would remember her face, if not her her name. Well, they camped here 2 years ago ......... I said nothing, wondering if this was supposed to be a clue or if she was simply reminiscing. It was a clue. "We stayed in site 51 .......... it was $15.00 a night." I have no category of $15.00 and told her so. Then she told me that it was a big rig, 50 amp and that she clearly remembers paying $15.00 per night. This memory escapes me just like it never happened.

She wanted the same site for tonight and when they arrived I gave her that site. She a bit miffed that I wouldn't give it to her for $15.00, but we finished the transaction and her husband came in to get the map and instructions from me. "Are you sure our rig can go in that site, it is 40 feet long!!" I assured him that it would indeed fit. She then asked if the trees would touch them. I must have had a dumb look on my face, as I was thinking "not unless you run into them".

Finally they leave and I lock up for the evening. The site they chose was electric only. There is a hydrant on the site, but we turn the water off when the temperature drops to freezing, as it is now. I heat up my dinner and sit down to my solitary meal (He Who tows is doing just that). Thankful for a quiet moment, with the canine contingent outside for the time being, I am enjoying my beef and broccoli when the phone rings .........

Josephine Blow is outraged. "We have no water!" I explain the concept of frozen pipes and she seems to not comprehend. I tell her I can turn it on long enough for her to fill her holding tank, but that I won't leave it on all night. Deep sigh, then "Hold on and let me tell my husband." I wait as she repeats everything I have just said to him.

"Do you have another site?" I tell her that the only 50 amp full hook-up site left is site 6. "Where is that?" she asks. I ask her if she might still have the map I gave her ........ "Hold on." I wait again. "I see it on the map, but how do we get there?" (May I suggest that you drive?). I go over the route with her and then she says ...... "Hold on, let me ask my husband." After a lengthy consult with the husband and many reassurances that they should fit just fine I am released from the phone once again to reheat my meal.

Yes, the phone rings again. "There is a black truck in site 6 and a camper in site 7. You said site 7 was empty and that we would be able to pull through!" This delivered in a tattle-tale voice. I don't hide my annoyance and tell her I will be there in a minute to have the truck moved. I arrive on my golf cart with my lights shining on the site. I knock on the door of site 4 and ask the tenant to move his truck. He apologizes and rushes out to move his vehicle. In the meantime I am once again asked if their rig will fit. This time by the husband, no phone between us this time.

I can't help myself as I point out that site 7 is empty. Just as I said it would be. "Are you sure my rig will fit in here, it is 40 feet long!" I tell him that the rig in 4 is 44 feet long. He tells me I am mistaken that it is at least 10 feet shorter than his ......... He is joined by the wife and they are now concerned about the trees and the need for me to trim the branches. The wife says they would be better off parking at WalMart, so I tell them I would be more than happy to refund them and they can be on their way.

My tenant moved his truck and apologized that I lost a camper. Not his fault, I was sincere when I said I would be more than happy to offer a refund. I know when I have lost. There was no way I could have satisfied Joe Blow and his obedient wife. It took them a good 20 minutes to come in for the refund. Just the wife. She tells me that her husband did not want to fill the holding tank and then have to empty it in the morning, because he remembers that our sewer didn't work 2 years ago when they were here ....... Two years ago, when they rented a site for $15.00. The site she "remembered" was a site with no sewer. Could be why it didn't work.  My appetite was gone by then. Tums for dessert. Tomorrow will be better.