Over the past three days, the site has gone from very quiet to fairly busy. I can only presume that when I go in tonight that it will be busier still. No matter how busy the site gets at this time of year, I am out there on my own. So I'll apologise in advance if I seem aggressive. You'd think it was understandable under these circumstances.
As I pulled into the site last night, I was overwhelmed by the smell of burning wood. So much so, that I started my shift earlier than usual, yet I won't be paid or given any thanks for doing so. I decided to find the source of the fire, which wasn't too difficult. When I arrived at the tent, I was met by three young males. I asked them to put the fire out and waited there until they had done so. After that, it was time for a quick walk around the site to see where the troublemakers were pitched and back to the office to pick up the lock for the gate. Obviously, I'm used to starting later than this, so when I checked the time as I left the office, I was quite surprised to find that I still had another half an hour before the gates were due to be locked.
I walked around the site several times, once I had locked the gates, and focussed my attention on one tent that were making a lot of noise, oblivious to the fact there were several tents in close proximity to theirs. I asked them to quieten down; they heard me but continued with their conversation. I reminded them that "Now means now." and they got the hint, for the time being. When I returned to their tent, about half an hour later, they were all crowded in the entrance of the tent, talking loudly and pointing skywards. I made my presence known, which they ignored, and asked them to quieten down for the second time otherwise the manager would be called out and they would be asked to leave, tonight. One of the group said, "I think he wants us to shut up and go to bed." Which they did. Eventually.
By this time, Alex had shouted me on the radio and was heading out to walk around the site with me for a while. Unfortunately it didn't last long, and I was soon alone again.
A quick walk to the reserved field to ask a group of males to quieten down, who informed me that they were just going to bed anyway. Experience has taught me well enough that when someone says this, they are 99.9% talking utter rubbish. Which is why I wasn't too surprised when I returned forty minutes later to give them a final warning, I could hear them clearly from two fields away, that they eventually shut up and went to their beds.
As I was walking around one of the tent fields, I heard a vehicle with its engine running, so I made my way over to it. Inside the car it was pitch black, except for the few lights on the dashboard, so it was impossible to tell if there was anyone inside it. I waited around near the vehicle to see if anyone would return to it. After a few minutes, a male exited the toilet block and made his way towards the car. I asked him if he was the owner of the vehicle, to which he replied the affirmative, so I asked him to turn the engine off. As he did so, the occupants of the tent opposite the vehicle voiced their thanks.
"Yay! Thank you!"
I was sorely tempted to give them permission to violently beat him, should he decide to switch the ignition on during the night. I didn't want to encourage them, so I left them to it silently laughing to myself.
Back in tonight, and I have been reliably informed that the site will be busier than last night.
