RMP91
New Member
Today was supposed to be like any other hunt at a local soccer field that I have had no prior issues with for the past 4 years. I was minding my own business on the edge of the field, plucking out pocket dumps of change and even the occasional gold/silver ring.
About 20 minutes in, I see a group of about a dozen or so middle-school aged girls with a few adults, most of whom were wearing AYSO soccer uniforms arrive on the opposite end of the field and setting up cones and goalposts. I figure "OK, they are getting ready for practice, I may as well wrap up this last target and move on to the tot lot located next to the field".
Just as I was finishing cleaning up the dig area and reinserting the plug I had made, one of the adults from the Soccer group from the opposite end of the field that I was at (This was a large field, about 500 feet long! And judging by her appearance, was the head coach) had come within 8 feet to my left and begin yelling at me and hurling accusations at me that I was destroying *their* field and killing the grass and was going to make the young girls trip and hurt themselves because of my selfishness (What? ). I resisted the urge to verbally defend myself and explain what I was doing, because somehow I knew she wasn't gonna listen. When it became apparent that she wasn't going to listen to me (as per my intuition), I knew I had to walk away, this was not worth my time at all. I told her that I was done here and was going to go to the playground and that they were more than welcome to use the field (though, again they were all at the opposite end of the field, which is about 500 feet long... More than enough room for all of us!)
I grabbed my gear (which consisted of only my White's MXT Pro, my finds pouch and a Predator Lesche) and nigh high-tailed it to the Tot Lot (about 120 feet away from the field, completely separate part of the park). You'd figure that she'd have left me alone now, now that I wasn't even on the field anymore... Wrong.
As I was turning on my MXT Pro to search the playground, again she comes at me (at a much brisker pace now, she looked visibly enraged) and, once more hurls her mindless accusations and hatred of those she feels were "killing the field for their own selfish ends". It took every iota of self-restraint I possessed to not raise my own voice and point out that I wasn't even on the field anymore and was no longer "hurting the girls" (as she put it). It was here she started threatening to place me under Citizen's Arrest for an unspecified crime. As this is all going on, several people were gathering nearby, making it quite obvious that the lady was making a scene.
At this point, I decided that there was no reasoning with this woman and told her (calmly and civilly) that I was leaving and left the park, I put my gear in my car, and drove off to another park to round out my hunt. I noticed that she was on the phone while pointing at my car, as if to get somebody to record my license plate like I had committed a crime (which I had not). It's almost as if she had some sort of Ax to grind with me or some sort of long-held grudge against MD'ers? Since the police still haven't shown up at my doorstep, I'm guessing she was bluffing or trying to make sure I actually left.
Needless to say, I won't be going anywhere near that park during certain hours of the afternoon anymore. Who could have known a female Soccer Coach could be so hostile, if not borderline hysterical against fellow park patrons?
About 20 minutes in, I see a group of about a dozen or so middle-school aged girls with a few adults, most of whom were wearing AYSO soccer uniforms arrive on the opposite end of the field and setting up cones and goalposts. I figure "OK, they are getting ready for practice, I may as well wrap up this last target and move on to the tot lot located next to the field".
Just as I was finishing cleaning up the dig area and reinserting the plug I had made, one of the adults from the Soccer group from the opposite end of the field that I was at (This was a large field, about 500 feet long! And judging by her appearance, was the head coach) had come within 8 feet to my left and begin yelling at me and hurling accusations at me that I was destroying *their* field and killing the grass and was going to make the young girls trip and hurt themselves because of my selfishness (What? ). I resisted the urge to verbally defend myself and explain what I was doing, because somehow I knew she wasn't gonna listen. When it became apparent that she wasn't going to listen to me (as per my intuition), I knew I had to walk away, this was not worth my time at all. I told her that I was done here and was going to go to the playground and that they were more than welcome to use the field (though, again they were all at the opposite end of the field, which is about 500 feet long... More than enough room for all of us!)
I grabbed my gear (which consisted of only my White's MXT Pro, my finds pouch and a Predator Lesche) and nigh high-tailed it to the Tot Lot (about 120 feet away from the field, completely separate part of the park). You'd figure that she'd have left me alone now, now that I wasn't even on the field anymore... Wrong.
As I was turning on my MXT Pro to search the playground, again she comes at me (at a much brisker pace now, she looked visibly enraged) and, once more hurls her mindless accusations and hatred of those she feels were "killing the field for their own selfish ends". It took every iota of self-restraint I possessed to not raise my own voice and point out that I wasn't even on the field anymore and was no longer "hurting the girls" (as she put it). It was here she started threatening to place me under Citizen's Arrest for an unspecified crime. As this is all going on, several people were gathering nearby, making it quite obvious that the lady was making a scene.
At this point, I decided that there was no reasoning with this woman and told her (calmly and civilly) that I was leaving and left the park, I put my gear in my car, and drove off to another park to round out my hunt. I noticed that she was on the phone while pointing at my car, as if to get somebody to record my license plate like I had committed a crime (which I had not). It's almost as if she had some sort of Ax to grind with me or some sort of long-held grudge against MD'ers? Since the police still haven't shown up at my doorstep, I'm guessing she was bluffing or trying to make sure I actually left.
Needless to say, I won't be going anywhere near that park during certain hours of the afternoon anymore. Who could have known a female Soccer Coach could be so hostile, if not borderline hysterical against fellow park patrons?