Handling Stupidity

 Holiday weekends tend to bring out my sarcasm. Make that, the people I interact with during holiday weekends bring out my  sarcasm and all my bad qualities. This past weekend was no different.

It starts before the weekend begins. This season has been different in so many ways. The empty pool, the masks (or refusal to wear one), the ever present fear in the back of my mind. My fear was not for me. It was for HeWho was constantly too close to people with no mask on. He would not be likely to survive Covid and is constantly "forgetting" to mask up while he wanders around outside. Makes me wish I had a long extending arm to smack the back of his head to "remind" him. I am guilty of being naked faced outside, too. But I am mostly alone while gardening and I find that rakes and shovels are handy to make people distance themselves from me. With the length of my arm and the garden implement, it creates that 6' distance.

Then my sister-in-law sent a text informing us that she had contracted the virus. When a member of your family or a close friend is involved in a life and death struggle it brings a real slap in the face of reality. Hearing the numbers of deaths on news reports does not begin to touch you like someone you care about. We are both more cognizant of the danger lurking. I am happy to report that she is home and slowly gaining her strength back. It was a long struggle for her, but I feel the most for my brother-in-law having to be helpless while she fought. It is not a good position to be in when you life mate is on the precipice of life and death.

Okay, so now I will get to the meat of this post. I should call it "Utter Stupidity". For whatever reason, this season has campers coming out to choose the site they want before they come to camp. They will call and ask which sites are available before they reserve and will make ridiculous demands. I usually do not assign sites until the week before the impending weekend. I use the information I gather at the time of the reservation to determine the best location for a particular camper. Because of the way my campground was built long before it became ours, it is challenging.

We have double sites. The camper to arrive first would pull in and then the camper arriving later has to back in. The runs are plenty long to accommodate the two campers, but I have to consider many things when I assign them. The length of the camper and the amps they will need. Also the trickier part of being aware of when they will be arriving and when they will be leaving. I don't want to trap anyone who will be having an early departure.

The camper is not thinking about any of that when they look at the map or drive through the park. This leaves me trying to explain this. A seasonal camper requested a move to a double site. She wanted the site that would be the back-in site. I tried to explain that she would be ultimately prevent me from being able to use the remaining site unless it was a motorhome. She said, and I quote, "Oh, that doesn't matter to me". I responded that it did matter to me, but that if she was willing to pay for both sites, we could certainly move her. She had made several trips choosing the site she currently occupied and didn't think I was being fair. She remains in the site she originally chose.

I have campers living here. If they construct anything on their site, you can assume that it was approved by me. I want the park to reflect a certain atmosphere and I have been known to tell people to clean up or get out. I have a camper with an unusual style of fencing made out of pallets. She has planter boxes on top of her fence and it will eventually become a living fence. I don't find it unsightly, knowing what it will eventually become. It is straight and sturdy. I had a pending camper ask me to remove it for the weekend, as she did not want to stare at it all weekend. 

I almost let the words in my mind loose and say, "Well, avert your gaze and look at something else". I didn't, in my attempt to be diplomatic. I looked at her reservation and realized that she wasn't even facing the fence in question. Problem solved. 

That didn't annoy me as much as the man coming into my store with a naked face to ask which site he would occupy in a couple of weeks. On my door is a big sign with a neon green background and bold letters in black. It is at eye level and would be right in your face when you grab the handle to the door. It says "DO NOT ENTER UNLESS YOU HAVE A MASK COVERING YOUR MOUTH AND NOSE". Why would anyone assume they were exempt? Beyond that, why would you presume to continue standing in my door with your naked face when I tell you to go outside? Twice. Then why would you think it would be a good idea to try to "educate" me about safety and corona virus?

This man was brave, even in the faced of a masked mad woman. He confided to me that I was worried about the wrong parts of the face to mask. He claims that it is the eyes and ears spreading the virus. I literally screamed at him to get the (insert really bad word) out of my store. He was still grinning like the fool that he is when he left. How stupid can anyone get? This must be why surgeons wear masks over their ears and eyes, right? It will be interesting to see if he shows up for his reservation and if he comes equipped with a mask to cover his mouth and nose.

More interesting will be how I handle myself ....