Is there any such thing as a “adult park?” I’ve never seen a park with pullup bars or swings that had a “no kids” sign. Kids get the kids-only park AND they get the whole park too.
I don’t have a problem with an adult using a jungle gym when there are no kids waiting to use it. Do you?
The park in my neighborhood is awesome because it actually has pull-up bars. But most parks in town don’t. I’m not going to give someone the stink eye for making use of whatever equipment is available just as long as they don’t hog it or act obnoxiously. Like the women in the OP did.
Since I’m not arguing that a person is entitled to every little benefit their taxes support, I have little use for your lecture. Wanting to get the most out of your tax dollars isn’t “naive”. It’s simply not taking stuff for granted.
And you call yourself a Doper. What the fuck is wrong with you, man? You changed.
Cough, splutter!
Oh, . . . reaction.
Yes, well, quite so.
Because I find children adorable and enjoy watching them play? What kind of society finds it odd or creepy for adults to simply take pleasure from *watching children play?
*
There are no swings in the adult areas.
Or other parts. Why no, none of my cousins ever did that, why do you ask?
A lot of London parks have outdoor gyms - exercise equipment designed for outdoor public use. No swings, I’m afraid, but usually pull-up bars, bikes and/or cross-trainers, some basic weights, etc. Also suitable for children if they’re tall enough.
And I too endorse the OP rant, both because the idiot was hogging the jungle gym and because you don’t bring your dog into a playground and then demand that it’s the kids’ responsibility to avoid it. Keep your dog away from the kids!
You could go to more interesting clubs.
There are hundreds of fitness trails (also known as parcourses) across the country for adults to do a variety of physical exercises. There’s probably one near your community.
It’s a toddler area. There is even a sign. You’re goddamned right I have a problem with an adult using it. “Your” tax money does not let you break all the rules and possibly the equipment. I would tell you to leave and threaten to call the cops.
I just hope you missed that this the toddler area. And even then, I have to think less of you for making that shitty argument, where you pretend that money that never belonged to you is yours to manage. We all vote for where the money goes and how much of it belongs to the state. It’s NOT yours.
That type of ownership of the money collected from you in taxes is a shitty Republican thing. I hate when you find out something shitty about someone you otherwise like.
[… rushes off to Kickstarter…]
Paracourses and outdoor gyms are all very fun (used the one in our local Urban Park myself) but it’s often mirroring indoor gym-type stuff, and rarely is it there just for pure play. It’s exercise-as-result, with fun-as-side-effect. Sometimes, it’s nice just to play with the exercise as a side effect. XKCD gets it.
I’ve seen several of those. The two I recall right now are one in Barcelona a couple of blocks from the Sagrada Familia (stuff both for children of different ages and sizes and for adults), and one behind the Old Folks’ Home in Tudela (super-low-impact exercise machines for adults right behind the Home, two parks for children within a few meters). The machines look mass-produced.
I guess Mustang Ranch is shut down now … and it weren’t ever free …
I have yet to see a park that didn’t have an enclosed toddler area, with an under-3, or under-4 limit, and a larger, unenclosed area for older kids, that adults are free to use as well, with the exception of a couple of things that might say “50 lb. limit” (I’m thinking of a sort of toy zipline thing that a person over 4ft. can’t use anyway).
I remember once, though, when I was walking my 85lb. dog, and it was about 90’F, so I was letting her drink pretty much every chance she got, and we passed a fountain outside a city building, where about 8 kids were playing under a sign that said “WATER NOT POTABLE. DO NOT DRINK OR ALLOW CHILDREN TO PLAY IN.” This usually means it’s recycled, and possibly contains water from the sinks in the bathrooms (not the toilets, just the sinks, still). I let my dog drink from it. She’s a dog. She drinks from creeks and toilets. And heat injury is a bigger deal for dogs on a really hot day.
All the parents pulled their kids out of the fountain, and gave me the stink-eye.
I support this pitting, but I just wanted to note that it’s not always the dog owners with the odd ideas. I mean, I wouldn’t think that people letting their kids (mostly toddlers) play under a huge “NOT POTABLE” sign would care about the addition of a few drops of dog saliva, but I was wrong.
Lots of parks in Queensland have adult exercise equipment in them; It’s really quite cool. I’ve seen quite a variety of stuff at some parks and although I’m not into the gym thing, I’m reliably informed the equipment is actually useful for people who are.
I would love to see adult-sized swings and slides, though. That would be awesome.
Oooh.
My neighborhood playground doesn’t have swings. 
The playground used to host a gathering of teenage boys who would just sit there and intimidate the hell out of little kids (and their parents) who wanted to play on the jungle gym or tiny obstacle course…I haven’t seen much of them since the police busted a bunch of neighborhood teens last year. The big problem we have with the playground now is that kids will play in the adjoining pool, then go play on the equipment, then go back into the pool without showering – resulting in a pool that’s loaded with mulch.
I’d say half the parks here do and half don’t … and I can’t think of any that are signed as such.
Wait … ziplines for 3-years-olds … we definitely have none of those here.