Me and my ctx verbally abused by little old lady:surrender::thumbdown:

[Doctorcoinz]

I was sat on a bench in a playing field with my CTX 3030 laid on the ground next to me, generally chilling. I had been at the field 10 minutes. I had cut 2 horse shoes , I cut horse shoes not plugs as the recovery is made without trace and the grass heals very fast where the cut is made.
Totally impeccable recovery of 2 can slaw slices. Next thing is I see this old woman heading towards me , to cut a long story short she gave me a load of verbal abuse , something about others who dug holes in her field 300 yards away and didn't refill. I told her to disappear fast which she did.
I have not had this happen for a 2 years now, I thought I was doing good! .. Some people just hate metal detector users... You can't do good for doing wrong so it seems... Annoying and upsetting to a degree but others who make a mess really annoy me because this is what happens.

 

[BarberBill]

Unfortunately we're all perceived in the same bucket of paint as those that don't make a favorable example.
BB

 

[Doctorcoinz]

Yes that's true , over here in the Uk the hobby seems to be getting a bad name bit by bit. Lots of night hawks about I hear on the underground. Many farmers now refusing permission so I hear on the unofficial grape vine. Coin Hunters making a mess in parks etc etc...
Bottle diggers digging out trenches in farmers fields without permission . I wish I lived near the coast , I would forget inland sites completely..........

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah, old women can be unreasonable, they generally hate to see any man having fun, or relaxing!...full disclosure: Married, 35 yrs... I do not have the nerve to tell mine to get lost, bugger off, take a powder, leave me alone, mind your own business, etc.

I bear the scars from earlier attempts to set her straight! Good for you for standing up for the rest of us chickens out there!!
Mud

 

[Steve O]

"Disappear fast", lady. lol,... I like the sound of that.

 

[goodmore]

You did the right thing. She needs to know that she is a crabby old woman. I think you told her.

 

[kaolinwasher]

Just hope she is not on the city council.

 

[tarajudy]

her son is and you will pay for your comments TRUST ME

 

[Larry (IL)]

From wives to little old ladies, using this phrase will save you SO much grief in the long run, repeat it until she leaves you alone. You can then go back to whatever you were doing.

Yes (dear) you are right, I am so sorry, it will not happen again.

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

 

[Doctorcoinz]

Well when some one decides to stick there nose into some else's business there are no guarantees the receiver of abuse or what ever you want to call it is going to be nice. Confrontation has no guarantees of nice words.....
You dig two pieces of junk and then have a demented old woman mouthing off - a bad day

 

[Doctorcoinz]

The slums are best - no one is bothered if you are seen digging pull tabs - no jealousy... You go to richer areas and they hate your guts.. I have noticed this phenomena - weird!!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Bummer. And this is exactly why I do most of my park hunting at odd or night hours. So peaceful .... So serene....

Let's face it guys: detecting has connotations. You/we are simply not going to get every last person to "love and approve of you" and roll out red carpets. Thus the less people that see me, the better. Why swat hornet's nests? ha

 

[Rainyday101]

Same as Tom in Ca, I go early, late, or when it's raining. By far the most people that have talked to me have been park employess and they have been very nice, just wanted shoot the bull, and see if I was finding anything. They can never tell where I have dug and that is because I cut a horse shoe shape, use a drop cloth for removed dirt, and always spruce my plugs up so you cant see the cut line. I have given several my phone number and have told them to call if anyone leaves craters and I will come and correct them for free.

I wear headphones to ignore most other people. The only exception to this was when I was water hunting, removed my headphones, and had two cute girls going at it right next to me tell me it was okay if I wanted to watch. Didn't find much that day!

 

[ironsight]

Only had one confrontation and that was decades ago in a San Diego park. Can't remember exactly what sparked it but a couple 'wise guy' idiots ended up taunting me and my detecting buddy who were minding our own business detecting. My buddy lost his temper and started going after one of those idiots swinging his detector at him. The other Ahole pulled out a really small pocket knife LOL. I jumped in the fray with my 7" digging knife in one hand and the detector in the other and went after the tiny knife'd guy. At some point they had enough and skeedaddled.

What seems to work for me in parks is to become as invisible and non-threatening as possible. No bright orange, white caps, camo clothing, etc. In other words wear nothing that will attract attention. My baseball cap with brim lowered, sunglasses and being oblivious to the world has worked for me so far.
Keep digging tools out of sight as much as possible with this exception... when i detect in a bad neighborhood my digging tool is there for the world to see.

Contrary to those two TV 'Diggers', i don't make a big deal and spend a lot of time looking at a great find. That could spark all kinds of emotions to a neighborhood busy body or any passers by. Also when i dig, i always have my back to any seeing or potential seeing eyes and try to keep the plug or pile of dirt low/out of sight if its a deep dig.

Basically summing all this up: out of sight out of mind.

 

[GKMan]

My co-worker couldn't believe how quickly I handled a chatty bumb one day while we we sitting at a park near the Hudson river having lunch... He was probably almost to the point where they start telling you the story about how they only need twenty bucks to catch the train to NYC to visit their daughter who is having an operating..blah blah blah..
I just said "it's time for you to leave now"

He said Oh ok and walked away..

 

[Steve O]

Short, not aggressive and to the point.....message received.

 

[Overvoltage]

I have had a few people approach me at different times in the park I usually hunt in and ask what I was doing/looking for. I usually pull a handful of junk I had found out of my pouch and show them. Their attitude usually changes and they said WOW, you pick up allot of trash out of the park. I say yes and they leave. Sometime curious parents with kids come up to me and ask the same question. If I have found any non valuable interesting items like hot wheels cars I show them and tell the Mom they can keep them if it was OK with her. If I don't have anything like cars etc, I usually pull out some pennies and give the kids. I have never had someone just come up to me and start fussing.

 

[Nes (south Coast-CA)]

There was a comment years ago on the old Finds site about a Minelab detector hunting a Florida park. A Guy and a Kid came up and hassled him about using a detector in the park.and he told them it was legal. Didn't make any difference because they kept after him. So he whipped out his camera and took their pictures.and said when he was finished, he was going to report them to the police department for threatening him and give them the picture. That ended the discussion and they bugged out. A lot of people do things when they think it is safe for them.