Annoying People On The Beach

[srcdco]

The other day, I went up to one of the beaches on Lake Ontario. I don't get there too often, so I wanted to make a day of it. I had been there about an hour when an older man came onto the beach and set up his towel. He watched me for a few minutes and then asked "What do you do with what you find?". I told him that if it's good, I keep it, and if it's junk, I throw it in the trash so it's removed from the beach. He then proceeded to tell me that I have to turn everything in to the city that I find. I asked him why I would do that with loose change and his reply was that if it was lost on city property, then it becomes city property and that I was stealing from the city and the taxpayers. At that point I laughed and walked away, continuing my detecting. He kept at it, repeatedly saying that I was stealing from the city. What a moron.

Scott

 

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[Hag730]

Geesh......what an idiot.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Next time just tell them I turn it all in to the city, head them off at the pass.

 

[DrJoePrime]

A good reply for you when he first asked his question would have been: "Why do you want to know?" That generally shuts up most busy bodies.

I reserve that answer for the obvious busy bodies. For the majority who are just curious and not rude I tell them I SAVE everything.

 

[StormSurge]

I would have just told him " So call the Cops!"

 

[snakeyes]

wear an organge vest and a white hard hat, the nuts will think you work for the city and not bother you

 

[austin]

Keep your headphones on. That way you'll never hear them...

 

[bigscoop]

I guess I've been lucky. Most people who approach me seem really nice. This past week I was hammered with people wanting me to search for lost items for them. Little kids are my biggest obstacle, I usually have lots of fun with them but sometimes they can be a real pain, mostly due to their endless curiosity. Teenagers can be a pest sometimes but a good hard stare for a moment usually squelches it. Always going to be a few attitudes on the beach and you can usually see them coming...that's when I just offer up a friendly smile and point at my headphones and say, "I can't hear you" as I keep moving on. Sometimes they keep babbling on but usually they accept the notion that I can't hear a word they're saying anyway.

 

[DANGLANGLEY]

Some people just have to stick their nose where it doesn't belong. I found an old engagement ring on a football field about 6" deep a long time ago. My wife at the time wore it to get her hair fixed and showed it off. An old lady told her that she should be ashamed to keep that. Someone lost that and would want it back. Just imagine putting an add in the paper of what you found, lol... every nut within 50 miles would claim it. I have been cussed out and told to leave when I had permission to hunt. I was asked once if I was from outer space. No telling how many times a cop showed up to check out a report that a man had a huge knife carrying it around at the park. Only once did the cop ask me to leave so the "old busy body" would quit calling the station. The other day I was hunting a swimming area and a biker dude stripped down to his underwear and walked out into the water and proceeded to wash off without a bar of soap. I'm not even going to say what the old pervert was doing with the water squirting toy the same day. I've got lots of stories from about 36 years of hunting. have a good one.

DANGLANGLEY

 

[Chug And Red]

Ive only been Hunting three years And Some of the Stories Will Make you Blush or throw up !!!

 

[cz70pro]

I had an "adult" with his three kids in the surf today,follow me around going "beep,beep,beep,and laughing. I stopped and said even though I was wearing headphones,I could hear everything he was saying.I also told him that he wouldn't believe what the group of teenage boys was saying about his daughter. MR" funny man" wasn't feeling to funny now! This is why I really try to go very early,to avoid all the smart asses.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

I had an "adult" with his three kids in the surf today,follow me around going "beep,beep,beep,and laughing. I stopped and said even though I was wearing headphones,I could hear everything he was saying.I also told him that he wouldn't believe what the group of teenage boys was saying about his daughter. MR" funny man" wasn't feeling to funny now! This is why I really try to go very early,to avoid all the smart asses.

Hahahaha! I know exactly what you mean!
Why is it, when someone sees you with headphones on, they think it's time to play 20 questions? LOL!

 

[Lady Pirate]

I was in Daytona for 10 days, just got back, while detecting, some kid comes over to me and asks if I found anything? I tell "no", I never tell anyone if I do find anything. So he starts to follow me around, I tell him nicely to go about his way. His parents are not too far off sitting there and yapping. He leaves, when I start digging, he runs over again. I stop, fill in the sand and turn my back to him & walk off into the shade. He leaves again. I go back and continue my dig in the volleyball court and here he comes again....and this time the kid starts the scoop the sand out of my hole with his hands that I am actually working on, screaming to all the others "she found something, she found something". I was amazed that these parents just sat there yapping and letting the kid disturb me to this degree. So I then said before more children could run over "Now listen- I don't bother you while you are playing... so don't come over here and bother me while I am doing this! Get back over there and leave me alone!" He left again. I waited for him to complain to his parents and them to come over and get mouthy with me, but they didn't. My reward was a nice ring....real nice! I usually act as if I can't hear people because of the headphones

 

[dewcon4414]

You just want to wear a tee shirt that says CAUTION.... LAND MINE SEARCHER. Adults i handle well..... kids even rudeness dosnt work sometimes. Ive had the beep beep beep recently from a group of young kids WITH their parents standing right there. Then one of the parents wanted to get serious and ask me questions..... I removed my headphones and told him.... listen buy a detector and maybe then you will learn how to use it and how annoying people can be.... beep beep to you.

Dew

 

[Sandman]

I've had kids reach into the scoop and try to grab a ring or coin. Most are just curious to what you are doing. I once had a lil girl ask me what I was finding and I said some coins. She asked what I was going to do with them and I told her If I found enough I'd buy a Coke at the concession stand. A couple minutes later she is in front of me dropping pennies for me to find. I thanked her and gave her a little silver ring which she then showed to her mother. Now she probably bothers all hunters hoping to get another ring.

 

[dustyspurs]

After reading these stories, I have to remind myself that most people are civilized and nice. I guess being a scary looking old man, self description, might not be such a bad thing in terms of keeping people away. Unfortunately, kids have an endless energy and are not easily deterred by being ignored.

 

[Native Floridian]

This is what i would tell them: You are right. But ya see here's what happened. The city hired a metal detectorist to search and collect all the loose change on the beach. Then the public works director said 'Hey, he can't work without a supervisor." So, the city hired a supervisor to watch over the metal detectorist. Then the police looked into it and said we need security personal to protect the money he collects. So the city hired a security guard. The City Controller saw all the money being collected and said we need someone to account for and record all the money found on the beach. So the city hired an accountant and a bookkeeper. Then the clerk's office said we need someone to administer all the new paper work. The city then hired a program administrator. Then city council said "wait a minute who is managing all these people?" We need department managers." So the city hired three department managers. Finally, the Mayor got involved and said "Hold on we're spending way too much money here!" So they fired the Metal detectorist. And here I am!

 

[DrJoePrime]

Lady Pirate...Your story brought up a few memories of mine.

I'm usually OK with kids ..even when there's 4 or 5 following me like I'm the Pied Piper. One time it was a brother and sister who were intrigued. I showed them a small bracelet which was mostly junk but had a few silver sections...a keeper for me. Well the boy handed it back and when I gave it to the little girl she ran off to her parent's blanket about 50 yards away. I would have preferred to keep the bracelet to study it more but could not see myself approaching the family. It did teach me not to hand keepers to little kids.

The second memory is from the 4th of July just passed. It was late beach time and only a few stragglers were left. One real cute shy boy of about 5 kept staring at me and with each coin I found he'd nudge his parents. So the next signal I got that was a quarter VDI I called him over. He looked at his parents and they nodded, yes. He ran over to me and I gave him my scoop and told him there was "something" right there. He scooped it up and it was a quarter. He looked at me with huge eyes. I said.."you scooped it you should keep it , right?" He looked at his parents and they nodded yes again. He grabbed the quarter and ran back to the blanket with a huge smile and the quarter tight in his hand. The parents mouthed "Thank You" ... and I think I may have just recruited a new member into our addiction!

 

[Crispin]

I'm new to the hobby and I have not settled into wearing head phones yet. The pair I have is very uncomfortable and quickly gets hot. I got up at 5am on July 3rd to do some hunting. There was a beach bum sleeping next to a fence 40 feet away. I honestly didn't see him until he started to yell at me about the beeping. I would have moved down the Beach but I was digging up a penny and wanted to find it before I moved on. Before I could find it he offered me a dollar to go detect somewhere else. I took it and moved about a hundred yards down the beach. That is the first and probably last time a bum will ever offer me money! Who knows, maybe I am on to something here.

 

[bigscoop]

It's nice to read all the stories about interaction with the kids, they can be such a blast sometimes. I always carry a few coins and a few pieces of junk jewelry in my pocket so I can light up a few tiny faces whenever I get the chance and have/take the time. Some kids are just easier to work with then others and you can usually tell which ones to avoid. But whenever the time is right they can be a real hoot! Not often that we get the chance to put smiles on faces so whenever I get the chance I try to make that happen.