My wife and I went camping a few weeks ago.
We were in a local park that has a campground in it, and had set up our camper in a very nice site. It was starting to get cold at that point, so it was our last trip of the season.

We had a number of friends that we had social obligations to, so we had the inspiration of inviting them all out to the campsite to sit around a fire and eat chili and have a social evening. I had brought some beer and wine, and had a load of candles that I was going to set out to illuminate our campsite. For shades I had a load of old wine bottles that I had cut the bottoms off of, and set them all around- on the table, along the path to the road so people could find the bathroom, and a couple around the camper as well.

The night went very nicely, very cool without being truly cold and a roaring fire to keep the cold at bay, and the chili was perfect for the occasion. Everyone stayed until about 9:30, then left before the park curfew as they were supposed to do.

The following morning at about 8 I woke up when someone knocked hard on our door. I sat up, confused. "Yeah?"

"Park ranger. I need to talk to you."

I pulled on my clothes and stepped outside to see a very angry looking man in a uniform. "Hi, what's wrong?"

He glared at me. "The park regulations are that any alcohol that you have is to be kept in your trailer and not be visible. I could arrest you right now."

I was rather taken aback. Looking around I saw an empty wine bottle and a small bottle of vodka sitting out, but the beer bottles had been put back in their case and were not visible. All that was really on the table were some dirty plates and the end of a loaf of bread and the ladle for the chili. Why was he so mad? I wasn't going to argue, though. "Okay, no problem, I'll clean up the table. Sorry, I wasn't aware of the rule- I thought alcohol was allowed."

He gestured around. "Any kid could come by on a bike and grab a bottle when you're not looking. It has to be secured in your car or your camper."

"Oh. Okay, I'll take care of it."

"Good. I'll be back in a little bit." And he stalked off to his truck.

Ten minutes later I had everything sorted and most of it packed back into the car as we were going to be leaving in a few hours anyway. I told my wife what happened as we cleaned up, and she was puzzled as well over the ranger getting so mad over one wine bottle and the end of a small bottle of vodka with maybe two ounces left in it. He could see that I was clearly not hung over, so what was his problem?

Then I realized how the candle shades must have looked by daylight as he saw about a dozen wine bottles parked all over the campsite...

Whoops.
( Wanderer, Fri 10 Dec 2010, 3:04, Reply)