Tales of Squatters

Come, sit a spell. Ice tea, soda, water? Get comfy, this might take awhile ........

Memorial Day is the first big holiday weekend of the season and it has come to my attention that this weekend usually indicates what the season will be like. This year is no different so far. Memorial Day was not good from my perspective this year. Lots of issues and people problems. While I do know that one can't please everyone, I still try.

It has been either raining or overcast all week long. The temperature has been on the cool side. This means that the pool was empty.  Not so good for the cash register, but it does afford me the opportunity to get a lot done outside. Monday was mow day and we did. I also got some mulching and weeding in.

Woke up Tuesday to a cloudy sky, with the promise of rain in the air. Wednesday was an instant replay. I checked my vegetable garden as I sipped my mug of coffee, then sat in the rocking chair on the front porch a bit while I checked e-mail. Looking out into the sites on the tent side of the park I notice several tents placed close to each other. I was outside until after dark the night before and did not close early, so I know that they checked in after closing. I am smart like that.

No registration is in the box, so I text He Who is towing to see if he had taken the registration and payment. He does that sometimes, if he happens to be coming in when people are doing a night registration. Sometimes he will leave it atop the cash register for me to see and sometimes he will put it in his pocket or car if he is leaving. Best to check with him before I approach the tent city laid out before my eyes.

He Who had indeed talked to the man and told me the man would be up to pay later. I stored that little nugget of info and went about my business of hauling mulch until time to open the store. Now, the very last thing I do every night after closing is check the bathrooms. Mostly to restock paper product and a quick sweep. I mop and scrub in the morning unless the park is full, then it gets done twice a day. Since I had not had anyone using the bathrooms since the weekend, it was an easy job. Both had toilet tissue on the roller and an extra on the back of the toilet. Paper towels nearly full and the soap dispensers full.

So, imagine my surprise when two ladies came in to buy ice cream and told me the bathrooms needed attention. The two ladies were in the tents, each had two children and told me their "men" were at work. They went on to tell me that they only had $5 between them and they wanted ice cream, but would have to eat it before the children saw them. One lady told me there was no toilet paper or paper towels in the bathrooms, that she had to use her own personal toilet tissue ...... Told me there was none on their arrival. "Gee, that's odd." I said "The last thing I do every night is stock the bathrooms."

I went out as soon as they had eaten their ice cream to check. The men's room was occupied, steam coming out the door. The ladies was also occupied, but open, so I went in with paper product in my arms. The place was a disaster. The sink was muddy and looked like they had filled it and let it overflow. Trash cans were running over. I remedied that situation, although I wondered how they could have generated that much trash in half a day. The steam shower was still going strong, so I left extra paper outside the door for the occupant.

He Who had talked with the tenters told me there was a family ..... husband, wife and two kids. I told him that it was two families and well past check-out time and no one had paid. I admit that I nagged at him on and off all day. I had to clean up after these people and I was none too happy about it. The one night stay turned into two and at closing I sent He Who should have demanded payment up front to go collect.

Yes, you guessed it, they didn't have the money. Could only pay for one night and admitted there were extra people. I mean, He Who can count, after all. Just neglected to mention the other man, since he was not there at the moment. Then came the sob story. Electric company cut off their lights because they didn't pay the bill. I hear this happens when you neglect to pay your bills.

Oddly enough, one of the ladies had try to buy my leather furniture that same day! Bathrooms were both occupied when I closed, so I did not get an opportunity to check them before I went to bed. I did when I started my day and let me just say that it was quite unpleasant. No paper product in either, despite the fact that I had put extra out for them. The clean up had me holding my breath. I will not go into detail, but every body fluid imaginable was involved. There were clothes draped on stall doors and in heaps on benches. Feminine hygiene products graced the back of the toilet. Dishes in the sinks .........

Noon came and went and I demanded He Who was not there come home and eject the squatters. At this point I decided to cut my losses and just get them out. But, another appeal to He Who is a sucker for a sob story and they got a stay on their ejection! One night turned into 3 and they told He Who they had decided to just stay long-term .......

He Who is a tender soul lied to them and told them we were booked for the weekend. Me ... I would have just told them they had to move on. Noon was approaching and I refused to go clean another mess until they left. I worked outside and watched, waiting for one of the men to go get the money from the bank to under pay me. They all got in the pool. A truck came in with a washer and dryer and a table on the back. That really scared me. I could just picture this set up in my tent area with extension cords running willy-nilly throughout the park ......

They paid part of the money owed and went on their way. The three day stay  for 8 people involved 9 rolls of toilet tissue, 7 rolls of paper towels and emptied the soap dispensers. I could not afford for them stay any longer. Not even taking into account the 30 minute hot showers the kids took .......

They finally left at 2:30 today. On to the next campground they go ....... with their washer and dryer and table on board. I did a final bathroom scrub down and replaced the paper product once again. Now here I sit, iced tea trickling down my throat, as I wait for the next catastrophic encounter with camping.