Snowy Range Pass

Snowy Range Pass

Thursday, September 01, 2011

No good deed goes unpunished

In our five years of full timing, we have had very few negative encounters with fellow RVers. For the most part everyone shares at least one common interest and are out to enjoy themselves. Our current campground in Bar Harbor, Maine is one of those places that does not accept reservations and only accepts cash payments. It is a large and beautiful place on the water with great views.

When you come in, they give you a campground map and go in to pick out your site. Then come back and pay. So we drove around and found that most sites were pretty unlevel as the campground sits on hilly ground and they have made little attempt to level the sites. We found one that looked good and I prepared to pull into the site. Almost before we could get out of the motorhome to unhook the toad, a woman literally flew out of a nearby motorhome screaming and hollering that we could not have that site as she was holding it for a friend. Hostile is not a too strong a word for her demeanor. We were non- plussed to say the least. When it was pointed out to her that there are no reservations here, she got even hotter under the collar. She said that she had placed some stuff on the site to hold it. There was no such stuff on the site and that really set her off.

Scanning around the area, she spotted her table and cooler on the site of a pop- up one row over. She immediately charged over and started yelling at them that they had stolen her gear. They informed her that they had simply moved the stuff that they assumed the last camper had forgotten for safe keeping. She grabbed it all and dumped it back on the site and stormed back to her motorhome.

After a brief discussion we decided to look at another site and Anneke would head back to the office. We had determined that we were not going to deal with this crazy person. So while she was gone, I moved into a second choice and when I did not hear back quickly, I just started to set up. Now Anneke is not one to take abuse easily and when she arrived at the office remarked on this woman’s behavior.

Next thing I know, a guy shows up with a radio and asks if I would like to move into the spot we had first chosen. It seems that the crazy lady had no right to hold a spot since there was no reservations here. If she wanted that spot she should have gone the office and paid for it. I said that it would be up to Anneke in the office but that I had already started to set up in the other spot. Meanwhile, the guy with the radio went and talked with the folks in the pop-up. After hearing their story, he confiscated the gear the woman had replaced at the site. All said and done, we decided to not take the site.

To be fair, the poor husband came by and profusely apologized for his wife’s behavior and asked us to please take the site. We appreciated his comments but said we were not going to move.

The upshot was when her friends showed up they turned out to be bigger idiots than the first woman. They ran a very loud roof fan 24 hours a day that could be heard all over our section of the campground and even annoyed the staff. The manager decided that there was nothing she could do about it after polite requests to not run it 24/7 were rejected with some hostility.

Once again, it was brought home to me that no good deed goes unpunished.

Happily, they left today and Anneke can sleep again.

There are no pictures with this post to protect the guilty.

19 comments:

Sue Malone said...

We are all incredibly lucky that this kind of behavior is fairly rare. I would have taken that woman's photo, or gee, maybe a movie, and posted it all over the internet! well...maybe not....but it would have been fun to do it! I often tell RV campground hosts that I am an RV blogger and when I get great service I am sure to let them know it will be mentioned on the blog. No way would I have camped next to that crazy lady! I would have left the park first!!

Sue and Doug said...

well..there is a first time for everything!..I do believe that this is the first post that I have read with regards to 'neighbour's like yours!..thank goodness they are gone!!!

Janna and Mike said...

How terrible for you guys. If I had been the manager the woman and her friends would have been going down the road, evicted!

Jim and Sandie said...

I think you were smart not to take that first spot. That poor husband. How would you like to be married to that. We have been really lucky and have had very few bad experiences.

meowmomma said...

Don't blame you for not wanting to park beside that! In the same campground would have been uncomfortable for me after having an exchange like that! Good for you guys for letting the management know about them, but doesn't sound like they had much backbone to do much!

Enjoy the peace now!!!

Donna K said...

Whew...bet you're glad that's over! I agree, most RVers at least try to be nice but that sounds like a nightmare. I would not have parked next to her either. Here's hoping you get some really REALLY nice neighbors in the near future!

Erin said...

This is the kind of situation where hubby would banish me to the motorhome as I would go ballistic in the face of such attitude. He's definitely the calmer of the two of us and would deal with it like you did. May the need for dealing with such people be few and far between.

Happytrails said...

Oh wow! Some folks are just not true RVers or even nice people!! Sorry you had to go through that!! Life is just too short for that kind of anger and what a life her husband must live. Glad you didn't park next to her and glad they are gone. Now on to happier folks and good RVing experiences.

Gail Houle said...

Wow! Some people shouldn't be allowed in public !

Rick said...

There's no shortage of idiots in this world - even fellow RVers! Lucky for us they seem to be a small minority.

Jerry and Suzy said...

The park management should have called the Sheriff's office and had them evicted. We've seen that done at one time. A cheer goes up from the rest of the park when that happens!

Travels with Emma said...

I got a real chuckle out of your last sentence. Thank goodness that kind of behavior is not very common. I have run into it a few times, though.

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

Chalk up another one for a new find onthe road, a blithering idiot.

You certainly handled it well. Too sad that the other campers with the fan intimidated the staff and got their way.

Glad to see these fools moved on to not ruin your entire stay.

Texas Yellow Rose said...

I wouldn't have taken the site next to the rude woman after her "craziness." I mean, who wants to deal with that. I just don't understand people these days. Whatever happened to civility and not acting like one owns the world?

Margie and Roger said...

Thankfully there aren't too many of those crazy people out there - I sure wouldn't have wanted to park next to her after that encounter.

Singing Land Cruiser said...

We think you were way to kind!

Sherry and Charley Dilworth said...

How sad that you had to run into someone like that!! Fortunately there are not that many who are rude or hard to get along with in our life style!! You handled it much better than my other half would have!! :)

Peter said...

Wow, THAT wa some encounter.

Along the Way with JnK said...

There seems to always be one in every crowd...thank goodness you chose the higher road and not allow HER issues to ruin your day or your life! Life is way too short to be that hostile over such a tiny incident!