After camping 60+ years, finally ran into the ultimate ....
...most inconsiderate, rude, belligerent, pig-headed, camper ... ever ... in 60 years! Really.
This week-end ... Potato Creek State Park, near South Bend, Indiana....
Great week-end. We arrived Thursday night, left Sunday about Noon.
Everything went well ... until Sunday morning.... Rain, lots of rain. Maybe this put everyone in bad spirits, I'm not sure.
Everything was fine until leaving the park. Got up to the dump station ... oops ... I'm the 5th camper back. Each camper is taking approximately 10 minutes. Slow progress, but still ... progress.
There are 2 dumps at the station, and you enter from opposite end. So one can turn right in, the other has to make a U-turn to get in.
People are nice and polite. 2 camper in line, facing each direction. Everyone waiting their turn to decide if they should go "right" or make the U-turn and come in that way. AND, quite obvious everyone being polite not to block anyone in by being 3rd in line on one side or the other.
So actually, we were 5th in line on the road, but 4 more at the actual dump.
45 minutes later, we finally make it up to the dump. Still everyone VERY happy. Everyone VERY civil, everyone VERY polite ... in spite of the damp weather.
And oh, by now, the line on the road is about 20 camper deep. I couldn't see the end any more, it snaked down the road.
I'm happy dumping, thanking myself (and the man upstairs) for getting me off the camp site when I did, so I would not have been caught too far back in that line. Everyone still happy, I'm dumping away ... maybe having my own private church service in my heart or something .... like I said ... really great weekend, very happy!
Then all of a sudden someone on the road starts yelling, then someone else comes running up to the camper behind up, then the camper behind us starts backing up, then going forward, then came in behind us, then another camper behind them follow (3 deep now and we're on the U-turn side) ... People yelling and screaming, and my wife says, ... that guy behind us and the guy behind him cut the line and everyone is going ballastic! My wife grabbed the phone and started recording, expecting fists to start flying. I continued dumping, hoping to just get out of there. I finally finished, started putting sewer hoses up, when the guy behind us is now being confrontational with my wife. Not sure how that got fired up, but tempers were not very pleasant.
Well ... no one messes with these things in a mans life ... his food, his house, his dog, his shot gun, and his WIFE!
So, that's when I gave the guy my 2 cents worth. OK, I wasn't very kind, but I did experess my self pretty clear about what I thought of him jumping ahead of about 20 other camper who had also been waiting in line for a good hour! It's quite obvious to say... my "religion" disappeared at that moment, and my actually calmed the situation down. By now, there were several people who had marched to the campground gate entrance and made their voices heard loud and clear.
Nothing exploded into violence, but this guy was ready to reach for a fight, calling everyone around him wrong, he was right, no one knew the proper procedures for entering the dump station, he had the right to pass everyone else because they weren't moving, and "WE" cut in front of him???? hum????
We'd been 2nd in line at the actual dump when he pulled in behind when we moved forward to dump.
That blew my socks off ... I'll call a liar a liar, and I thought he was going for something loaded with ammunition! Really!
Well, we successfully got loaded back up and moved out of there. The campers facing the other direction looked horrified, like ... OMG... I'll be dumping right beside this guy! People on the road still yelling and screaming at each other.
When we pulled out, I stopped at the gate house (which was right there) and raised my concern too. The situation was anything but pleasant. Leaving the park, we saw several DNR trucks heading to the campground!
I will say, I've been camping all my life. My parents were campers, I grew up with it, and this is by far the absolute worst fellow-camper I've ever seen, and definitely the most hair raising experience I've ever encountered!
Well, I've heard of "Road Rage" before. But I really think this is the first time I've ever experienced "Dump Rage!"
Be patient folks. Don't you all know the dump station is part of the camping experience. If you can't build time into your schedule to dump, take your order in line, and be polite about it, I think you've got the wrong hobby!
This week-end ... Potato Creek State Park, near South Bend, Indiana....
Great week-end. We arrived Thursday night, left Sunday about Noon.
Everything went well ... until Sunday morning.... Rain, lots of rain. Maybe this put everyone in bad spirits, I'm not sure.
Everything was fine until leaving the park. Got up to the dump station ... oops ... I'm the 5th camper back. Each camper is taking approximately 10 minutes. Slow progress, but still ... progress.
There are 2 dumps at the station, and you enter from opposite end. So one can turn right in, the other has to make a U-turn to get in.
People are nice and polite. 2 camper in line, facing each direction. Everyone waiting their turn to decide if they should go "right" or make the U-turn and come in that way. AND, quite obvious everyone being polite not to block anyone in by being 3rd in line on one side or the other.
So actually, we were 5th in line on the road, but 4 more at the actual dump.
45 minutes later, we finally make it up to the dump. Still everyone VERY happy. Everyone VERY civil, everyone VERY polite ... in spite of the damp weather.
And oh, by now, the line on the road is about 20 camper deep. I couldn't see the end any more, it snaked down the road.
I'm happy dumping, thanking myself (and the man upstairs) for getting me off the camp site when I did, so I would not have been caught too far back in that line. Everyone still happy, I'm dumping away ... maybe having my own private church service in my heart or something .... like I said ... really great weekend, very happy!
Then all of a sudden someone on the road starts yelling, then someone else comes running up to the camper behind up, then the camper behind us starts backing up, then going forward, then came in behind us, then another camper behind them follow (3 deep now and we're on the U-turn side) ... People yelling and screaming, and my wife says, ... that guy behind us and the guy behind him cut the line and everyone is going ballastic! My wife grabbed the phone and started recording, expecting fists to start flying. I continued dumping, hoping to just get out of there. I finally finished, started putting sewer hoses up, when the guy behind us is now being confrontational with my wife. Not sure how that got fired up, but tempers were not very pleasant.
Well ... no one messes with these things in a mans life ... his food, his house, his dog, his shot gun, and his WIFE!
So, that's when I gave the guy my 2 cents worth. OK, I wasn't very kind, but I did experess my self pretty clear about what I thought of him jumping ahead of about 20 other camper who had also been waiting in line for a good hour! It's quite obvious to say... my "religion" disappeared at that moment, and my actually calmed the situation down. By now, there were several people who had marched to the campground gate entrance and made their voices heard loud and clear.
Nothing exploded into violence, but this guy was ready to reach for a fight, calling everyone around him wrong, he was right, no one knew the proper procedures for entering the dump station, he had the right to pass everyone else because they weren't moving, and "WE" cut in front of him???? hum????
We'd been 2nd in line at the actual dump when he pulled in behind when we moved forward to dump.
That blew my socks off ... I'll call a liar a liar, and I thought he was going for something loaded with ammunition! Really!
Well, we successfully got loaded back up and moved out of there. The campers facing the other direction looked horrified, like ... OMG... I'll be dumping right beside this guy! People on the road still yelling and screaming at each other.
When we pulled out, I stopped at the gate house (which was right there) and raised my concern too. The situation was anything but pleasant. Leaving the park, we saw several DNR trucks heading to the campground!
I will say, I've been camping all my life. My parents were campers, I grew up with it, and this is by far the absolute worst fellow-camper I've ever seen, and definitely the most hair raising experience I've ever encountered!
Well, I've heard of "Road Rage" before. But I really think this is the first time I've ever experienced "Dump Rage!"
Be patient folks. Don't you all know the dump station is part of the camping experience. If you can't build time into your schedule to dump, take your order in line, and be polite about it, I think you've got the wrong hobby!
