Met my first "community do-gooder vigilante"

[drkp88]

I had a couple hours on Friday to do some swingin' so I headed for my favorite "IH" park. I noticed out of the corner of my eye a woman and a man watching me. This is common, mostly curiosity so I didn't think much of it. She then approached me and started complaining about what I was doing. She asked how much longer I would be there. I answered "a few more minutes". Apparantly she meant long term (must have seen me before) because she then asked "I mean, like all summer?" Her next question was "do you know how hard people work to take care of this park?" I assured her I did and I took great care to be neat. I have also had complements from other park neighbors about the care I took. (Funny thing is that the area I was searching that day had NO grass - it was bare dirt!) Anyway she said "I don't think I like this - I'm going to call the Parks Department!" I didn't want to argue with her, of course and assured her I would continue to take great care. I don't want authorities to have to react to one complaining individual so I figure I'll lay off the park for a couple weeks.
I've been to this park off and on since last Labor day weekend and I've basically covered about 65% of the area.
On this short hunt my finds were:
4 IHs - 1876, 1882, 1889, 1900
7 wheats and part of an antique toy flintlock pistol

On Sunday I took Mom to brunch then spent a few hours with my girlfriend. I still had a couple hours to hunt so I hit another park I did very well at last summer.
My finds there:
6 wheats including 1916S & 1917
1 Liberty nickel 1902
1 Barber dime 1892 (first year)
1 Merc 1917
1 fancy flat button

Thanks for looking
Bruce in Ct

 

[dewcon4414]

Its a shame.... we pay taxes to and MOST of us try very hard to take care of it. They dont see a problem dumping their trash, pull tabs, foil, water bottles ect but let us dig a small hole and listen to those hypocrites. They dont think twice when their kids are diggin in the dirt or about the divits they make when hitting golf balls or even the damage the mower do now days. Since we are under such a microscope we take extra care with our holes and remove a lot of trash from the parks. If there was a 1000 people loving what we did and one complained...... those is charge would find it easier to put it off limits than support our hobby.

Dew

 

[Hotcz70]

Nice hunt Bruce.

I would probably take the exact same approach as you did...just lay off a couple weeks...then go back to what you do.

Sad to even have to do that...but probably best in the long run.

 

[MNCoinhunter]

You definately stuck to the "Three C's"...Cool, Calm and Collective. Unfortunately there will always be someone with nothing better to do than complain.

Nice finds !!

 

[sgoss66]

Everyone is different; me, I would have tried to explain what I'm doing, the care I take, the fact that I remove large amounts of trash from the park, etc. All you need is one "squeaky wheel," no matter how "unfounded" the accusations are, to "embellish" the complain to the extent that they "force" someone at the Parks dept. to pass a law or restriction. I think I would have at least tried to reason with the person and explain that I'm really not causing damage; I'm actually cleaning the place up. I might have showed her my "junk pouch" just to verify!

Steve

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Bryce is right, that you are choosing the right tactic: lay low for awhile, and avoid *just* that one busy-body lady. And when you go back to that particular park, pick off-times where she's less likely be parking her nose there.

The reason this is wise advice, is that all too often, when someone has an encounter like yours, they do just the opposite: They a) start an argument with the busy-body that it's public, arguing semantics about whether or not they're being neat, etc.... b) next they run down to city hall, to make sure they get some sort of sanction or permission papers from the park's dept, so they can wave it in the face of the busy-body lady next time. Well you can guess what happens when the skittish md'r runs to city hall looking for sanction: Even in places where no one's ever cared before, and there's no specific prohibition, the md'r can sometimes get a "no", simply because a desk-bound clerk finds the easy answer, or perhaps their image is geeks with shovels, etc.... (ie.: the old "no one cares, till you ask" psychology).

Thus sometimes the best tactic is to avoid busy bodies. It's gotten to where I hunt parks at dawn (5 to 7am, for instance), or quite litterally at night. Because let's face it: we're in an odd hobby that draws the stares of the curious. If any of us thinks we're going to get full on approval from every nosy-parker, they've probably chosen the wrong hobby.

 

[drkp88]

Thanks for the feedback. I did stay very calm and conversational but I could tell from her attitude that no reasoning would have had any effect.
I started to explain my process (unfortunately I didn't have any junk yet) but it didn't make any difference. In this woman's mind I might as well have been usung a back hoe.
Bruce

 

[sgoss66]

Makes sense Bruce. If you sensed that reasoning with her would have been unproductive, then your approach was best.

Steve

 

[Eddie in Poulsbo]

Very nice finds Bruce. Unfortunately, there is going to be someone who objects to making a plug in grass or even dirt for that matter which was your case and I give you all the credit for handling it the way you did. They can complain to the park managers and if they come out and check and don't see any visible damage being done then it should be OK. Then again, if it was a person who didn't take good care and make a mess then it's just one more park that will be banned from any metal detecting for all of us. Word of advice fellows, do a good job with your plugs, keep things tidy and hopefully it will keep your local parks open to detecting.

Eddie

 

[drkp88]

AMEN, Eddie
Bruce

 

[DirtFlipper]

If your Parks and Recs dept or Board has an online presence, it might be possible to keep an eye out on their meeting minutes to see if the subject gets raised, or if any changes to the regulations get proposed (or passed). We lost use of a whole district's park space here two years ago allegedly due to messes left behind by detecting (unconfirmed as far as I know though). Generally the don't ask, don't tell approach is good (assuming there's already not something prohibitive within the posted regulations), but if someone does start to stir the pot, then at least there's possibly a chance to fight it. Still hard to do though once set in motion.

 

[Elton]

I had one last year..She was walking her dog.. Wanted me to stop digging... Said her dog couldn't, so why should I be able to..LOL.. "A NUT to Boot"...

She went on and on.. While this was going on her dog was doing what most dogs do when you walk them.. As she started to leave I kindly said..Excuse me..Shouldn't you clean that up..... so people don't step in it..... She said ... That's what the park is for. People to walk their dogs and use it.. I said "I KNOW..That's what I am doing too using it.....only in a different way ..... Hahahahhaha ... But theres an ordinance that says you have to clean up after the dog..it's posted over there on that sign...and while your reading it notice it does not say No metal Detecting ...She just rubbed me wrong that day..usually I am much nicer..