<p>What do you do when you’re a 12-year old boy strolling down Lucy Vincent Beach with your buddies and you spot your orthodontist? And he’s not wearing any clothes.</p>
What do you do when you’re a 12-year old boy strolling down Lucy Vincent Beach with your buddies and you spot your orthodontist? And he’s not wearing any clothes.
And that couple at Menemsha Beach playing music so loudly. So what if it’s Hamilton. Dare you ask them to lower the volume?
Drones buzzing over the Gay Head Cliffs. Can you complain? Ezra from Brooklyn thinks so. “They should be outlawed. Seagulls are fine. But not drones.”
Etiquette on the beach is a tricky affair. Here you are on a breathtaking Vineyard beach, away from it all, and yet so much can get in your way: second-hand smoke, flying beach balls, a man screaming into his cell phone.
And let’s not forget America’s best friends. Didn’t the couple walking their Labradoodle Max read the sign naming species prohibited from the beach? What if Max jumps up on you? And what about arguably the most egregious of all sins: their failure to clean up after Max.
Often, what it boils down to is what behavior to address and what to ignore. When is enough enough. People differ. Sometimes what’s behind the perpetrator’s behavior is insensitivity, ignorance or a belief that beaches offer absolute freedom.
It’s at the parking lot where push often first comes to shove. Darrius, the attendant at the Aquinnah municipal lot seems bemused by it all. “Vermont people are the politest,” he says. And the worst attitude? It takes only a second for a reply (think the Statue of Liberty).
“Sometimes I say hello and ask, how’s your day going? They just look at me and want to be done. They don’t want to park by the rocks. Or the dirt. Or anywhere near sand. They want to be closer to the path. Or claim ‘That’s my usual place, over there by the shade.’ Some feel entitled and complain about the fee to park. Call it a ripoff. When the parking lot’s full, they show their true colors. Try to cut into line.”
Juleann VanBelle, the attendant at the Philbin Beach parking lot also notices more people trying to sneak in without beach passes or trying to use last year’s expired pass. The behavior intrigues her. “The way people act when sneaking, as if they’re oblivious. They cover their faces and speed through,” she says. Called out, they offer lame excuses. “I left it at my grandmother’s,” she recounts. “Just dropping off cold seltzer . . . A raccoon ate it.”
Once you’re on the beach, the consensus is that blasting cell phones and litter are most annoying. At Katama one man in a bathing suit, standing knee-deep in water was yelling into a phone, “No, no, I have to be at a meeting in the city this afternoon.”
Then there are the people who spray suntan lotion, sunscreen or even worse, poisonous bug spray which drifts over to their neighbors. “I hate the spray,” one woman protested. “You can smell it from far away. I don’t want to breathe it. I think you should outlaw sprays. It gets into people’s food. It’s gross. It’s not like there aren’t other options. Like rubbing on cream.”
And if that weren’t bad enough, her companion warned: “Never ever put a beach chair in front of a person. We deserve a clear view of all this grandeur.”
Ted Sutton lives in Newton and Aquinnah.
Comments
A few weeks ago my wife and I
Jeff Winter Haines City, FLA few weeks ago my wife and I were on the beach. There was no one within 50 yards of us. A family of 5 came to the beach. They dropped their blankets and beach chairs about 10 feet away from us. I like people. but I felt our privacy was invaded.
Jeff, you are so right. There
Chip Coblyn OBJeff, you are so right. There must be some bizarre syndrome that makes people want to create a crowd!
As a single visitor for 30+
Diane McHugh NJ (3-4x year visitor to MVYAs a single visitor for 30+ years, I hate when people come with their racquet sports (net and all) and setup right by me.
I have a smaller beach footprint that giant families and so people think nothing of invading my space.
Also giant, loud family groups seem to always park right near me; these are very annoying as I try to get far away from the entrance. Looks like the one spot on the entire beach they wanted was within 10 feet of me.
Now I am on the beach by 8am and off by 11am.
Sometimes I will also go 3-5pm.
As I recall, when the
Jimmy Burgoff Pelham, MAAs I recall, when the wealthiest of "Summer-dinks" arrived, so did black fly season. Was this coincidence, or G_ds' poetic justice?
I was recently enjoying a
Jamie WTI was recently enjoying a beautiful day at Lambert’s Cove Beach when an ensemble of guitar players plopped down right next to me. They immediately struck up the band, and drowned out the Grateful Dead’s Europe ‘72, which I was listening to on headphones. No, none of them played like Jerry or sang like Bob.
Note rude gull that stole
Matt Mason Solebury PANote rude gull that stole ham sandwich from my hand at LUCY VINCENT last week.
I’ve stopped going during
Debbie EdgartownI’ve stopped going during peak hours in the summer because of all of the reasons listed above, the worst being people parking within inches of me (I think those mentioning about that they were given 10 feet were extremely lucky, lol). I always hated the Yankee fan New Yorkers until the summer after the Red Sox embarrassed them in the playoffs and then went on to win that amazing first-in-86 years-World Series. I never saw such quiet New Yorkers walking along South Beach as I did that year.
A few years ago I was ready
Nancy Haydenville and OBA few years ago I was ready to put my chair down on the sand at the Ink Well beach and a man tossed several beach chairs off the sea wall in front of me to claim a spot before I could get there! The rudest thing I've ever seen! Then because he didn't get the spot he wanted, or my one chair and umbrella was in the way, he set up a line of chairs a few feet in front of me. He left and after about an hour the whole family came and acted like I didn't even exist. Evidently they owned the beach!
When I see arrogant violators
Sue OBWhen I see arrogant violators and those entitled summer ginks I just pull a Maxine Waters fit on them! I loudly say I live here and "You are Not Welcomed Here, Get Out, Leave"!
Manners, folks, it's called
Lorraine EdgartownManners, folks, it's called manners. Consideration of others seems to be a dying quality; it could help the traffic problems, folks, we are on an island, why hurry? Many claim to be here for the quality of life, but seem to not understand that. No, it was not ever thus, I see differences. Pity.
If enough of us get naked
Ken edg.If enough of us get naked they cant throw us all in jail. When did things get so prim and proper?
Two thumbs up Sue. I have
Melissa MVITwo thumbs up Sue. I have seen over the years the overwhelming supposed tolerant left here become the totally the opposite of what they claim to be. Arrogant and entitled is a perfect description but now I would include hateful!
Just reading both the island's papers you find letters, opinions and columns totally intolerant and hateful.
I can`t wait until 2020 to see them really loose it but then "Poor Martha" for sure.
Why do you assume it's the
Ted VHWhy do you assume it's the "tolerant left"? Seems a bit intolerant and hateful.
My worst experience was when
Heidi VHMy worst experience was when a person's dog wandered over to my chair, lifted his leg and peed on it...while I was in the chair! His owner was completely shocked, but why? This is what dogs do. Keep your dog on a leash and you can control your pet. I love my dogs, but not everyone loves animals. I don't bring them to the beach.
Its a decline in respect all
deshandra brown EdgIts a decline in respect all over the country. Zero consideration for others. Whether its the NY person at the beach as a poster stated above, or someone stopping their car on main street Edgartown in traffic to unload their passengers or the local native that feels stopping in traffic to discuss business with another pickup truck going the other direction is 'ok' despite 10 cars sitting behind them. Maybe self centered 'entitled' people should think about how their actions would affect others before just doing something. Its funny how the supposedly 'tolerant' folks get nasty when your opinion differs from their 'narrative'
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