There are so many things I don't understand

I also don't understand the "entertainment" aspect of watching others struggle. Backing into a site with our 33ft fifth wheel is the most stressful part of our trip each & every time. After 4 yrs it's still not easy & thinking that we have an audience makes it that much harder especially knowing the mind-set of some people.

I usually , sheepishly, politely, offer to help. If they politely refuse, I bow out, then I set out of the way where they can not see me and watch.

If they are a jerk about it, I pull up a chair. ( I should add that I don't actually pull up a chair. I just watch without being as polite about it )

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Last time I offered a 'extra set of eyes' cause site was 'tight' I got chewed out by lady driver......she had been a bus driver for 20+ years.

SO I pulled up lawn chair on my site for better viewing angle and WATCHED her smash front bumper on a boulder, whack MH tail on a tree and then dent compartment door an another boulder.

I still offer but doesn't take much to turn me into a spectator.

I bet she couldn't back up a train on the tracks :B

I had to back out of a pull through site 3 weeks ago because of low limbs going forward. I have noticed this more and more in campgrounds that low limbs are not a priority. And no one offered any help nor did I need any.

Hitching up is the only time I (politely) refuse help. I have a routine that ensures I am buttoned up, packed properly, hitched properly and ready for the road. Any help messes up my routine and I end up forgetting to check things.

I'm cautious about offering help of any kind. I used to do it all the time. In the last 10 years or so I'm noticing more and more rudeness when offering help. I've had 2 incidents where I've offered help and was thanked, only to have them reward us with either lots of noise or family feuds going on.

When I've been asked for help I'm more than happy to and have been rewarded with making new friends. I'm not averse to accepting help if someone offers it either. Though we've got such a routine down that I don't think we've needed help in many years.

Some people will just refuse any sort of help. This summer a truck pulling a large fifth wheel was attempting to back into a site two spaces over. On his first attempt he backed squarely into a light pole with a large concrete base and when the trailer would not go any farther he spun his wheels in the gravel trying to push it up the slight grade. He then pulled forward and tried again this time spinning all 4 wheels when he was against the concrete base. I then went over and told him of the concrete he was up against and he just looked at me like I had 3 eyes and had just stepped out of a spaceship. He then pulled forward again and backed up with the same result. His wife who he had been yelling at the whole time then got out and directed him to back in at about a 45 degree angle where he left it.

In many years of being married and driving, one thing I have learned is to NEVER ask a lady driving a truck anything about her driving! If they need help, or need you to move over, most will ask first, then TELL!

This lady in the truck will accept backing help, but generally says the the best help is not to get run over as she zips it in the first time. BTW, I'm kinda proud of her, cause I can't back a lawnmower!

One thing that anyoy's me is places that require them to guide me to the site and then they insist on guiding me backing in.

There are so many different ways to back, and different ways to direct someone that I'd much rather either do it myself, or have DW guide me in. WE have a well defined understanding of what our hand signals, voice directions mean and it makes it easy for us to get in.