i work in a campground. i jokingly tell people it's like working in a hotel, except the guests bring their own rooms... over the years i've had some real winners, like the guy who was screaming at ME... just the desk clerk, threatening to call the EPA on us for being an "ecological disaster"... because our old worn out septic tank on our dump station decided to finally give out... while he was trying to dump his tanks. (we had it fixed within a few days)... to the family that was smoking pot in their cabin right next door to a couple of off-duty police officers...to the guy who came to the office to report that some drunk woman had broken into his camper thinking it was hers... while he was inside... naked... (we never found her.. i assume her family found her and took her back to her CORRECT camper)
so anyway... on to this week's crazy
no means no
so we rent these little bikes by the hour. they're fun. but we stop renting them out at 7:30 pm. because it'll be 8:30 when we get them back, and it's just starting to get dark by then. these fun bikes don't have all the reflectors regular bikes have on them, and they are low to the ground, so it's a safety issue, we don't want some kid to get run over because someone didn't see it in the gathering dusk. note: i'll bend the rule for a few minutes... i'm not super strict on that 7:30 thing.
so anyway... friday night. office is open till 10. i've already bent the rule by about 5 minutes for the last bike of the day... parents are super grateful. things are going well for a friday... last bike comes in, and about 5 minutes later (note, this makes it 8:40 at night) guy strolls in with his kid and wants to rent a bike. i tell him we don't rent after 7:30. he tries to pull the same line on me that the LAST guest used.. (it works, when you're only 5 minutes over the time)
bike guy: "but my kid really wants to go... he's been waiting alllll daayyyy."
me: *thinking*"then ya shoulda been here an hour ago." but i say "Sorry sir. we just don't want your kid to get run over by a motorhome or something. it's getting dark out there."
bike guy: can i just rent it for 15 minutes?
me: we only have a price by the hour, so i have no way of doing that, but even if i could, bike rentals have been closed for over an hour. (i say as i glance significantly at the clock, which now reads 8:45)
bike guy gives me catbutt face and walks out with his kid in tow. i look at my co-worker and go "seriously?
"
we catch your kid stealing, so you're gonna scream at US?
we also have a small arcade... about 7-8 games... a claw machine... etc. on friday someone's kids managed to figure out how to open the cash door on one of the games.... took the cash out of it (stealing), and hit the button inside to rack up lots of credits (also stealing).. then stood there playing away. the OTHER kids in the arcade come and tell the office (at least someone had honest kids. yay.) someone goes to the arcade... kids playing the game bolt, and we didn't catch where they went.
we shut the game off, unplug it, put a sign on it and leave for the time being. little while later we get a report the game is plugged back in and the same kids are there again, hitting the button inside to rack up free credits and playing. again, they run when an employee arrives. again, game is shut off, sign placed on it, etc... but we're super busy, we can't station a guard in the freaking game room.
little while later... AGAIN... game is on. $20 worth of "free" credits, same kids. this time the OWNER manages to catch them in the act... and the other kids in the arcade tell us what site they're on, so no point in running this time. Owner tells kids they're stealing from us, yadda yadda, and tells them he could have them and their family removed from the park for stealing from us, but he's only going to ban them from the game room.
this is where it turns weird. random dude playing another game in the arcade while all this is going on... turns out to be their responsible adult (dad maybe. dunno. didn't ask) he starts giving the owner crap saying he can't talk to his kids like that and he can't throw his kids out of the arcade. owner is like "i can and i did" guest pitches a wall-eyed fit replete with cursing and threatening to give bad reviews and saying "we'll never get such-and-such prestigious award (that we've gotten for the last 6 or 7 years straight) EVER AGAIN" and we finally had to call the police to have him removed from the park. i mean... wow.
and that is the story of the first time in 6 years of working in campgrounds that i've seen the police come to remove a guest.
so anyway... on to this week's crazy
no means no
so we rent these little bikes by the hour. they're fun. but we stop renting them out at 7:30 pm. because it'll be 8:30 when we get them back, and it's just starting to get dark by then. these fun bikes don't have all the reflectors regular bikes have on them, and they are low to the ground, so it's a safety issue, we don't want some kid to get run over because someone didn't see it in the gathering dusk. note: i'll bend the rule for a few minutes... i'm not super strict on that 7:30 thing.
so anyway... friday night. office is open till 10. i've already bent the rule by about 5 minutes for the last bike of the day... parents are super grateful. things are going well for a friday... last bike comes in, and about 5 minutes later (note, this makes it 8:40 at night) guy strolls in with his kid and wants to rent a bike. i tell him we don't rent after 7:30. he tries to pull the same line on me that the LAST guest used.. (it works, when you're only 5 minutes over the time)
bike guy: "but my kid really wants to go... he's been waiting alllll daayyyy."
me: *thinking*"then ya shoulda been here an hour ago." but i say "Sorry sir. we just don't want your kid to get run over by a motorhome or something. it's getting dark out there."
bike guy: can i just rent it for 15 minutes?
me: we only have a price by the hour, so i have no way of doing that, but even if i could, bike rentals have been closed for over an hour. (i say as i glance significantly at the clock, which now reads 8:45)
bike guy gives me catbutt face and walks out with his kid in tow. i look at my co-worker and go "seriously?

we catch your kid stealing, so you're gonna scream at US?

we also have a small arcade... about 7-8 games... a claw machine... etc. on friday someone's kids managed to figure out how to open the cash door on one of the games.... took the cash out of it (stealing), and hit the button inside to rack up lots of credits (also stealing).. then stood there playing away. the OTHER kids in the arcade come and tell the office (at least someone had honest kids. yay.) someone goes to the arcade... kids playing the game bolt, and we didn't catch where they went.
we shut the game off, unplug it, put a sign on it and leave for the time being. little while later we get a report the game is plugged back in and the same kids are there again, hitting the button inside to rack up free credits and playing. again, they run when an employee arrives. again, game is shut off, sign placed on it, etc... but we're super busy, we can't station a guard in the freaking game room.
little while later... AGAIN... game is on. $20 worth of "free" credits, same kids. this time the OWNER manages to catch them in the act... and the other kids in the arcade tell us what site they're on, so no point in running this time. Owner tells kids they're stealing from us, yadda yadda, and tells them he could have them and their family removed from the park for stealing from us, but he's only going to ban them from the game room.
this is where it turns weird. random dude playing another game in the arcade while all this is going on... turns out to be their responsible adult (dad maybe. dunno. didn't ask) he starts giving the owner crap saying he can't talk to his kids like that and he can't throw his kids out of the arcade. owner is like "i can and i did" guest pitches a wall-eyed fit replete with cursing and threatening to give bad reviews and saying "we'll never get such-and-such prestigious award (that we've gotten for the last 6 or 7 years straight) EVER AGAIN" and we finally had to call the police to have him removed from the park. i mean... wow.

and that is the story of the first time in 6 years of working in campgrounds that i've seen the police come to remove a guest.
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