There’s an entire motherfuckign park out there for you to lounge in or kick a ball around in or picnic. Why did you, an adult without a child, enter the enclosed toddler play area? Seriously, what the hell are you doing in here, other than send creepy vibes to all the parents in here?
Also, dogs aren’t allowed in here! Kindly keep your pet the fuck out and away from the kids!
Last weekend was the trifecta of unbelievable actions though - which is what prompted this thread:
Some woman enters the kids playground without a kid, with a dog, then proceeds to use the kid’s jungle gym to exercise, announcing to me that I needed to keep my son away from her dog! My 2 year old is not allowed to use the jungle gym in the playground because this stupid ass-hat has commandeered it!
I told her she can fuck right off with her stupid dog or I would call the cops - minus the cussin 'cause little kin was next to me wondering why he couldn’t go to the slides.
Also, teenagers: you too DO NOT belong in the enclosed toddler playground. And no, making out on the swings like you’re in the back seat of a car, while toddlers try to play around you and give you curious glances is NOT cute. Don’t fucking roll your eyes at me when I point out how inappropriate it is either.
I thought this was going to be an unfair rant against guys in the park, and the whole “a man alone can’t be around kids lest everyone think he is a prevert.”
You should not be so careless as to force your dog around kids. Even if you have 10 kids at home and the dog gets along just great with kids, you never know what’s going to happen with your dog and someone else’s kid. Your precious doggie is still an animal, and kids are fast, unpredictable creatures, and your dog could end up biting the kid. Or knocking the kid over, or the kid could hurt the dog, or the dog could scare the kid. Many dogs weigh more than toddlers. Many dogs are even taller than toddlers. How would you feel if you had the brain of a 3-year-old and were being eyeballed by an animal 25% bigger than you?
It’s annoying and appalling and scary when people bring their small kids in to the dog park. Do not bring your dog in to the kid park! (And by that I mean playground. You are all free to roam about the other public areas of the park with your dog on a leash and your kid nearby)
Yep. Enclosed toddler play areas are not exactly taking over the city. There are lots of places for older folks to do their various things, and given that I expect parents to appropriately govern their toddlers in all those places–or exclude them, as the case may be–then it is only decent and fair to respect the occasional little corners where little ones can run freer.
And to be clear I have no issues with doggies in other areas of the park, pet owners and parent’s are usually coordinated enough to pass each other without incident. But, at least where I live, these enclosed toddle playgrounds have clear signs that point out dogs aren’t allowed in, and yet some people just ignore these.
I try to teach Kin junior to appreciate animals, enjoy looking at them, but also respect them, and not touch or pet them or come too close unless we say it’s ok to do so. But he’s 2, he’s as likely to pet the doggy as to pull on his tail to see what happens!
Whoa, the are wholesome and socially acceptable reasons to enjoy the company of children. Not every Little League baseball coach is a pervert.
I certainly endorse this Pitting of the individual described in the OP, but the title of the OP is way over the line … setting up a guarded perimeter around play areas checking to make sure adults bring a child is as silly as having guards check birth certificates in front of public school bathrooms.
Yeah, I was about to come in all furious about the maligned men, but I endorse this… just because of the dog though. I don’t see what’s wrong with doing pullups on the playground.
If it’s a kids’ playground, and you’re monopolizing the jungle gym to the extent that a kid can’t use it, I’d suggest you find someplace else to do your pullups.
They’re both equally creepy, but I think the guy is more likely to get a reaction. Are either of them staring at kids? Cause who knows, perhaps it’s a great place for WiFi and an available seat.
The childless parents are just waiting for the parentless children that I see often enough. I take my kids to various parks around my house all the time, and I’m amazed every time I see a kid that is pretty young with no parent in sight. I’ll generally keep an eye out for the kid but every time I’ve been on the verge of calling the cops cause I was about to leave, miraculously the parent shows up even though they had been completely out of sight for 30-45 minutes.
I don’t go into the enclosed toddler playground area but I’m sure as hell going to keep on going into the playgrounds! I always swing on the swings. It’s one thing I am not too old for and is still an incredible joy.
I don’t, however, tell the kids they can’t play or go on the things that are clearly to small for me. And I don’t own any pets.
I would totally love to see parks establishing playgrounds devoted to adults. Maybe more grown-ups would actually visit the park if they could swing on the swings and slide down the sliding board without toddlers giving them the stink eye. Maybe we’d have better physical fitness and less neurosis if we had playgrounds made for larger bodies.
That said, the lady was wrong for hogging the whole jungle gym. If kids have to share, so should adults. And she should have tied her dog up somewhere so that its presence wasn’t an issue. I sympathize with her desire to do pull ups using equipment bought with her tax dollars , but she doesn’t have to be so ridiculous.
I used to use this as a justification for all sorts of stuff. But then I realized, my tax dollars build a lot of things I don’t want to use (how 'bout that Agate Fossil Beds Natl. Monument in Nebraska?) or even deserve to use (“Hey, I paid for this women’s locker room! Yeah, and the showers…”). As I mature, I realize I’m fine with not using naive justifications like “I pay my taxes, dammit…”
Playgrounds are for kids, dammit. In fact, I’d rather have repressive, nanny state signs saying so, than to have some crossfit junkie who “has to get their reps in, bro” making the kids and parents uncomfortable.
Not to mention the “makin’ babies on the swing set” demographic. Sure, they bought those swings with their tax dollars, too. But they can swap fluids on the futon they paid for with their craigslist dollars… without the risk of tumbling off mid-lip-lock (which would be my default move on those swings, I promise you).