(no subject)
Went to volunteer with the kayak club today. Early on, we had a loud and boisterous group which tested everyone's patience some -- parents, a grandparent, four kids, and girlfriend of one of the kids. The kids were mostly grown -- the youngest was about fourteen, a boy who said he was okay going out on his own kayak. He actually was -- he got one of the single-person kayaks early on and went out happily into the cove without incident.
The rest of the family, though...Dad was visibly overdressed -- think dress shirt, pants, and gold jewelry. Meticulously coiffed hair. His wife also was a bit overdressed - but she was the one person who didn't want to go on a kayak, and just stayed back on shore, hovering around our tent and watching everything. Dad smoked a lot and looked bored, even during the brief "here's how to kayak" lesson and the brief "don't venture near those rocks over at the edge of the cove" warning -- and then when he got into the water made a beeline straight for the rocks as part of a "race."
The two oldest daughters, though, got on everyone's nerves. They giggled their way through the kayak lesson, then when they got into the water kept crashing into the pier, and we had to pull them out and re-train them. (Their father came over and yelled at our group leader for "not teaching them" -- and he yelled back that "they hadn't been listening".) Then when they went back out, they kept getting into "races" with their brother and his girlfriend, which involved a lot of "whapping paddles at each other" and "driving each other into the pier". The club's safety guard came over to send them ashore -- and while they were on their way back to shore, they suddenly thought it'd be wicked fun if they capsized themselves. ...So they did. And then realized that they were in deeper water than they thought, and proceeded to flail and squeal in panic. We had to send two other club members out to retrieve them and their boat. They were informed in no uncertain terms that they were done with the kayaking for the day.
By this time, I'd pleaded the need for a break, and took one of the single kayaks out for a spell. I spent most of my session making big, slow loops of the cove, lingering at the edge of the pier as long as possible before heading further into shore where Overdressed Family still lingered on and off kayaks, carousing and hollering.
During one of my apporaches to shore, I noticed that the two sisters were back in the water -- swimming, about 20-30 feet out, right in the path of any oncoming kayaks. They were too busy playing "duck my sister underwater" to be aware of any kayakers around them, and a few people had to try to duck around them.
I paddled over. "Hi, guys," I said casually. They looked up. "You know, just a word to the wise -- I saw a jellyfish once out in the water right about here."
They gasped, screamed, and swam back to shore so fast their arms nearly windmilled.
I told different people from the kayak group this story over the course of the rest of the day, sweetly asking them all, "was that mean of me to do that?" Each and every member of the club said no, not at all.
The rest of the family, though...Dad was visibly overdressed -- think dress shirt, pants, and gold jewelry. Meticulously coiffed hair. His wife also was a bit overdressed - but she was the one person who didn't want to go on a kayak, and just stayed back on shore, hovering around our tent and watching everything. Dad smoked a lot and looked bored, even during the brief "here's how to kayak" lesson and the brief "don't venture near those rocks over at the edge of the cove" warning -- and then when he got into the water made a beeline straight for the rocks as part of a "race."
The two oldest daughters, though, got on everyone's nerves. They giggled their way through the kayak lesson, then when they got into the water kept crashing into the pier, and we had to pull them out and re-train them. (Their father came over and yelled at our group leader for "not teaching them" -- and he yelled back that "they hadn't been listening".) Then when they went back out, they kept getting into "races" with their brother and his girlfriend, which involved a lot of "whapping paddles at each other" and "driving each other into the pier". The club's safety guard came over to send them ashore -- and while they were on their way back to shore, they suddenly thought it'd be wicked fun if they capsized themselves. ...So they did. And then realized that they were in deeper water than they thought, and proceeded to flail and squeal in panic. We had to send two other club members out to retrieve them and their boat. They were informed in no uncertain terms that they were done with the kayaking for the day.
By this time, I'd pleaded the need for a break, and took one of the single kayaks out for a spell. I spent most of my session making big, slow loops of the cove, lingering at the edge of the pier as long as possible before heading further into shore where Overdressed Family still lingered on and off kayaks, carousing and hollering.
During one of my apporaches to shore, I noticed that the two sisters were back in the water -- swimming, about 20-30 feet out, right in the path of any oncoming kayaks. They were too busy playing "duck my sister underwater" to be aware of any kayakers around them, and a few people had to try to duck around them.
I paddled over. "Hi, guys," I said casually. They looked up. "You know, just a word to the wise -- I saw a jellyfish once out in the water right about here."
They gasped, screamed, and swam back to shore so fast their arms nearly windmilled.
I told different people from the kayak group this story over the course of the rest of the day, sweetly asking them all, "was that mean of me to do that?" Each and every member of the club said no, not at all.