the people shown in the above slideshow & photos below exemplified high degrees of self-centered behavior, selfishness, and/or unbelievable lack of self-awareness.
First, the lady sitting in the chair sat down directly in front of my towel when I was gone for a few minutes so that when I sat down the ONLY THING i could see was the back of her head and chair. I confronted her and she said "I didn't know anybody was there..." despite my towel, backpack, and shoes being there. Well, now you know lady, so you are going to move right? Nope ! She wouldn't move. She also had an accent of some sort...made me wonder (along with a few other experiences at trestles) if non-Americans were MORE rude than Americans (which is hard to beat, but as best as I could tell, it was the non-Americans who were being more pushy and selfish with their chairs and other view-blocking accessories they brought to the beach with them) . So I moved to a new spot (hard to find) after this first lady blocked my view in a despicable manner, ...
and shortly later, once again, upon return I found this sun shade directly in front of me...UNBELIEVABLE arrogance to set up right in front of people with such a contraption. So I moved again, making my point to the lady in the chair as i walked away, but not bothering with the others.
And I found a place by the rocks and a few minutes later while I was sitting there this lady with the camera set up shop directly in front of me. I waited a few minutes thinking she might just be taking a few shots and then moving on, but she stayed. So to be sure I asked her if she was planning on staying there, thinking she might not know she was directly in front of me. And she simply said, "Yup" without explanation or apology. SO I got up and sat directly in front of her. She was silent for a few moments. THen said something which I couldn't hear. A few minutes later, as I expected would happen, some stupidly chivalrous dude came up to me and said, "She's been there all morning..." So I moved..but hopefully helped make my point...mirroring her rudeness. If she had simply said she had been there ...and that this was "her spot" (albeit she left no towel or anything there) it would have been more acceptable but she basically said "Yup" with a middle-finger at me.
Then, a little later, these two stood and conversed for many minutes while ALL of us with cameras were trying to watch and film the action in the ocean. They seemed totally oblivious . Finally somebody got their attention and they acted surprised as if they didn't know there were 100's of people behind them trying to watch the action. In some cases people are truly, but unacceptable and unbelievably, unaware of what is happening around them. Their entire life exists around their own universe, without concern for those around them. In other cases, the awareness is there but they simply do NOT CARE if they block other people. We live in a world with INCREASING, not decreasing, amounts of absolute selfishness. It is sad and despicable and in most cases the only thing we can do is
at least SHAME THEM.
First, the lady sitting in the chair sat down directly in front of my towel when I was gone for a few minutes so that when I sat down the ONLY THING i could see was the back of her head and chair. I confronted her and she said "I didn't know anybody was there..." despite my towel, backpack, and shoes being there. Well, now you know lady, so you are going to move right? Nope ! She wouldn't move. She also had an accent of some sort...made me wonder (along with a few other experiences at trestles) if non-Americans were MORE rude than Americans (which is hard to beat, but as best as I could tell, it was the non-Americans who were being more pushy and selfish with their chairs and other view-blocking accessories they brought to the beach with them) . So I moved to a new spot (hard to find) after this first lady blocked my view in a despicable manner, ...
and shortly later, once again, upon return I found this sun shade directly in front of me...UNBELIEVABLE arrogance to set up right in front of people with such a contraption. So I moved again, making my point to the lady in the chair as i walked away, but not bothering with the others.
And I found a place by the rocks and a few minutes later while I was sitting there this lady with the camera set up shop directly in front of me. I waited a few minutes thinking she might just be taking a few shots and then moving on, but she stayed. So to be sure I asked her if she was planning on staying there, thinking she might not know she was directly in front of me. And she simply said, "Yup" without explanation or apology. SO I got up and sat directly in front of her. She was silent for a few moments. THen said something which I couldn't hear. A few minutes later, as I expected would happen, some stupidly chivalrous dude came up to me and said, "She's been there all morning..." So I moved..but hopefully helped make my point...mirroring her rudeness. If she had simply said she had been there ...and that this was "her spot" (albeit she left no towel or anything there) it would have been more acceptable but she basically said "Yup" with a middle-finger at me.
Then, a little later, these two stood and conversed for many minutes while ALL of us with cameras were trying to watch and film the action in the ocean. They seemed totally oblivious . Finally somebody got their attention and they acted surprised as if they didn't know there were 100's of people behind them trying to watch the action. In some cases people are truly, but unacceptable and unbelievably, unaware of what is happening around them. Their entire life exists around their own universe, without concern for those around them. In other cases, the awareness is there but they simply do NOT CARE if they block other people. We live in a world with INCREASING, not decreasing, amounts of absolute selfishness. It is sad and despicable and in most cases the only thing we can do is
at least SHAME THEM.
Finally, the state parks lifeguard...
see slideshow video at
http://www.kizoa.com/Video-Maker/d13435371k3412449o1/shame-on-u
see slideshow video at
http://www.kizoa.com/Video-Maker/d13435371k3412449o1/shame-on-u
I
took a swim north of the competition area today (9/16/14) & suddenly a
lifeguard with his little red flotation device came swimming out to me acting
as if I was in distress. I calmly told him "I'm fine" & "I
don't need to be rescued." And he replied, "You appear to be a weak
swimmer, there's a riptide..."blah blah blah. In fact, what this was all
about is probably somebody with binoculars (they had been sternly admonishing
surfers on the other side to stay out of the competition area all morning, even
threatening law enforcement if they didn't comply) in the Hurley booth saw me
drifting a little south towards the competition area & instead of them
kindly asking me to swim a little further "upstream" they decided to
use the pretense of a rescue & had to add insult
to injury by calling me a "weak swimmer." I might add that
I swim out to an offshore buoy (several hundred yards) & back on a periodic
basis at Corona del Mar. I do have a bit of a permanent shoulder injury that
causes me to switch from freestyle to sidestroke on a periodic basis &
maybe makes my freestyle form appear a bit unorthodox but nonetheless, since
when did lifeguards make "rescues" based on swimmer's style rather
than actual need? I sensed the lifeguard was acting on orders from somebody
else,...he virtually pleaded for me to come to shore, which was what I was in
the process of doing anyways, but I was also cooling off & enjoying just
floating a bit. It really takes some of the enjoyment away from the beach
experience when lifeguards become too nervous. It makes everybody nervous, often
unnecessarily so. You don't need to be a powerful swimmer most of the time to
swim in the ocean. If you think you can defeat the waves by being stronger than
them, you will lose. More important is finesse & patience & ability to
stay afloat. Occasionally, it helps to use brute strength to power towards the
beach, but most people know, it’s not a matter of strength that will help you
escape a riptide, but temporarily going with the flow.Anyways, there was not
much of a riptide at the moment, if at all. I sensed this was
"political" & I was being used as a
pawn,so that others would see the
drama & think it was dangerous or wrong to swim there. Funny thing is, it
didn't work. People saw me enjoying the water & as I exited suddenly there
were at least 20 others splashing in
the
cool water on the 100 degree day.
