Believe it or not, there are people out there that don’t know how to behave in public and the beach is no exception. It is really quite astonishing, to me at least, how insensitive, rude and in some cases just plain clueless people can be. During a recent trip to Crystal Cove we encountered a guy that was the epitome of insensitive/rude and his wife just seemed clueless and/or resigned to the fact that she is married to an asshole.

So, I went on a walk down the beach, my husband stayed behind, reading his book. When I returned, this is the view I had from my beach chair. Yes, you are seeing correctly … their skimboards are directly in front of me. And, get this, this is the “better” place for them according to the asshat they belong to. My husband asked if they could move them and they were moved, from in front of him to in front of me, so they were basically moved a few inches. For the record, we were there well before this family showed up.

This brings me to my beach etiquette* lesson, which I really thought everyone knew. 1) Never set-up directly in front of someone else. 2) Try to stagger your set-up from those in the closest proximity to you, especially when they are already there. 3) Do not, especially on a crowded day, take up the space of a horde, when there are just four of you. In other words, don’t act as if you own the beach and no one else is entitled to use it. 4) Don’t let your kids play in front of someone else. We don’t want to watch your kids either. 5) This one is the most important one of all … CLEAN UP YOUR AREA WHEN YOU LEAVE!!!

Garbage

Needless to say “my” family of four broke all of the unwritten rules of the beach. The really sad thing about this is the message the parents are sending to their kids … it’s OK to act like an entitled asshole.

Sorry for the poor photo quality, but I took them quickly using my phone. I didn’t want to use my camera as the dad was a real hot-head. When he moved the skimboards he acted all put-out and offended. He seemed just like the type of guy to start a fight.

All I wanted was a nice relaxing day at the beach. Thankfully they didn’t stay long. They created all of the havoc – getting me all riled up – in about two hours.

It’s really simple, be kind and courteous to those around you all of the time, not just at the beach. Peace yinz guys!

So, my friends, what else can we add to the Unwritten Beach Etiquette List?

* Obviously, if you go to a more popular i.e. crowded touristy beach or as the tide/surf dictates you have to amend accordingly.