Curious about something...

These situations are tricky (not to mention annoying). If everyone follows the rules, everyone is treated fairly. People don't have the rules memorized though. Think of campers like children. They'll do what they want until someone tells them it's against the rules. Of course they'll push back. Try to keep a sense of humor. Try to reward the good behavior, not the bad. The campground is a large area to cover and you can't spend 24 hours looking for bad behavior. That's no fun! We've had good success with a wave and a smile, as people enter and leave, and as we drive through the campground. (I like "drive through" instead of "patrol".) If someone doesn't look at you and return your wave or smile, they are the ones who aren't having fun and may need more attention. Even the good ones can't be perfect. The campfire flames up, but it will settle back down. Don't get mad and assume they'll keep it blazing. Just watch for a little bit if you're concerned about safety. If they are keeping it blazing, go over and talk to them calmly. Troublemakers don't really like you to be in their campsite, even if you are the nicest person on earth (or maybe especially). So, if you're a talker, chat with them about anything and everything including the campfire restrictions and the reasons for it. Take your time. Chat for a while. Maybe sit down. hahaha Try to stay until the fire is safe again. This technique may need a couple times during their stay to get the point across. Try to have fun with this instead of letting them get under your skin. (not as easy as it sounds I know)
Another technique, one step further in the Walmart-Greeter philosophy, is to spot the trouble before it happens. We've had groups of young people looking for a place to party for the night. You can spot them, maybe a car or two and all texting to others who will show up later. So my husband would catch them as soon as he could, before they set up camp. He'd talk to them about this being a family campground and the sheriff patrols nightly. He explained to them that there are 3 things that will invite the sheriff into your campsite: lots of cars, noise and a big campfire. And, son-of-a-gun if they didn't turn into good campers...or leave.
Then there are the ones who get angry because they have to follow the rules. I had a guy yelling at me so all around could hear him. I tried to calmly reason with him without raising my voice. That wasn't working. He just wanted the attention. So, I lowered my voice to almost a whisper. He had to come closer to me to hear. I don't even remember what I said but I could see everyone in the other campsites pay more attention too. hahaha He calmed down. I don't think I ever resolved his problem but I really didn't care if he didn't come back. I mean, why do I want to make sure that camper is happy? But at least he wasn't bothering the other campers anymore.

edatlanta wrote:
I had some college age campers across the street from me this past week. They had a popup towed by a small pickup and their other vehicle was daddy's BMW 7 series. Initially they parked the BMW on a dune next to their site. I reported this to a ranger and they did move it, but left it 3 feet out in the road. This road isn't wide and they were on the inside of a slight turn. I was concerned that a large MH or 5'er would tag their car so I mentioned this concern to them. They did pull the front of the car off of the road,but left the rear still 3 feet in the road.

They clearly had no clue so I just ignored them after that. Fortunately they left yesterday.

Ed, crazy season is just about ready to descend on you. Just a few more days until all school systems across Florida are out. Our northern friends think the "busy season" in Florida is winter, not so in north Florida. Summer is high season along the gulf coast and all north Florida beaches. St Andrews must rank among the busiest in Florida by number of visitors each year.

I had some college age campers across the street from me this past week. They had a popup towed by a small pickup and their other vehicle was daddy's BMW 7 series. Initially they parked the BMW on a dune next to their site. I reported this to a ranger and they did move it, but left it 3 feet out in the road. This road isn't wide and they were on the inside of a slight turn. I was concerned that a large MH or 5'er would tag their car so I mentioned this concern to them. They did pull the front of the car off of the road,but left the rear still 3 feet in the road.

They clearly had no clue so I just ignored them after that. Fortunately they left yesterday.

stickdog wrote:

luvglass wrote:
I don't think you are there to "suck up" to anyone. Part of your job is to enforce the rules of the people that hired you. If you explain the rules to the 5% and they won't comply, your job is to report it to the rangers. They are responsible for making the final decision.

You're not doing your job if you let campers ignore the rules.

As a volunteer I have never and I repeat NEVER been asked to enforce rules, and been explicitly instructed that it was not my place to enforce rules. On occasion I have reminded campers of the rules and let them know that was all my position required. However the Ranger on duty would be notified of the situation and could take whatever action required.

X2. That is exactly what we were told the first day of volunteering.

luvglass wrote:
I don't think you are there to "suck up" to anyone. Part of your job is to enforce the rules of the people that hired you. If you explain the rules to the 5% and they won't comply, your job is to report it to the rangers. They are responsible for making the final decision.

You're not doing your job if you let campers ignore the rules.

As a volunteer I have never and I repeat NEVER been asked to enforce rules, and been explicitly instructed that it was not my place to enforce rules. On occasion I have reminded campers of the rules and let them know that was all my position required. However the Ranger on duty would be notified of the situation and could take whatever action required.

In our 9 years of workcamping, we ran into this frequently. If our approach did not work we went to the higherups....they then handled it.

Amen to all of these statements! Do the best you can and as you said most people will be understanding and comply, but there are always those who just don't care, so don't waste your time or energy trying to get them to follow the rules. Report them to whoever is over you or the local police department if it is too bad.

Inform them....any non-compliance....Ranger/CG Manager time.

That's what they get the big bucks for.........dealing with imbeciles

I don't think you are there to "suck up" to anyone. Part of your job is to enforce the rules of the people that hired you. If you explain the rules to the 5% and they won't comply, your job is to report it to the rangers. They are responsible for making the final decision.

You're not doing your job if you let campers ignore the rules.

I just ignore them and report to a ranger if they get too far out of hand. They won't ruin my summer.