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Boat People Scum

29K views 212 replies 48 participants last post by  MarkofSeaLife 
#1 ·
Went ashore the other day to go to grocery store. Had on clean shirt, shorts, and sandals. We had our backpack and rolly cart along with a small bag of trash to toss in the trash can at the store. As I was putting the bag of trash in the can this older woman came out of the store and gave us a look of "I hate you homeless boat people scum!"

I'm trying to figure out how she could tell.
 
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#6 ·
Maybe because you were happy, smiling, relaxed and going about your day (boating can do that to a person). What she said reflects more on her than it does you. Maybe she was having a terrible day, got bad news, etc. Maybe under different circumstances she could even be pleasant. I was going to call her a miserable old hag but I don't have enough info to come to that judgement right away.
 
#9 ·
Wow talk about projection, so many assumptions.

Maybe she suffered traumatic abuse in her childhood from someone who looked like you.

Maybe she had a spasm of pain from her terminal disease and wasn't even really looking at you.

And even if your telepathy was accurate, so what, really worth posting about?
 
#13 · (Edited)
What did you expect? 'Welcome Sonny?' 'Make yourself at home?' 'Marry my daughter?' You've got to remember that these are simply the nouveau riche of Florida. These are people of the land. The common clay of Florida's wealthy coastal cities.



It will get worse when you reach Naples...
 
#15 ·
I was having breakfast in a nice restaurant last week...didnt make a reservation and have to wait type of establishment.
Great food but i looked over and saw a guy put ketchup on scrambled eggs his waitress had just served him. So very wrong...
I couldve just kept my judgement private but i felt a need to berate him in public....you know that urge swelling up inside..a boiling..and my twitter followers might like it too.
The manager of that Waffle House told me to leave and to never come back. And she wasnt very nice about it.
 
#17 ·
I’ve asked permission to use dumpsters and almost never been turned down. I’m often told it could only be that one time, which has always been fine. Garbage removal is very expensive on a commercial contract. I would never presume it was there for public use.

I’ll bet the old lady has been victimized by much worse and was overreacting. Many cruisers take advantage. My biggest peeve are those that pull the lid off park receptacles, designed to capture drinking cups and picnic plates, in order to jam two full garbage bags inside and then balance the lid atop that no longer fits. That’s low class.
 
#22 ·
I'll bet the old lady has been victimized by much worse and was overreacting. Many cruisers take advantage. My biggest peeve are those that pull the lid off park receptacles, designed to capture drinking cups and picnic plates, in order to jam two full garbage bags inside and then balance the lid atop that no longer fits. That's low class.
This issue goes past boating and marinas.

Near my home is a Kmart and sometimes RVers will park and camp overnight there. One of the stores I frequent in this mall has a sign on the garbage can outside the store that says "small items only." My guess is they are sick of campers leaving large bags of garbage outside the trash for them to deal with.
 
#18 ·
Years ago Shelter Island instituted a policy that it would only accept bagged trash in their designated bags... which were sold in the hardware/marine store to boaters but probably distributed to local homeowners. Apparently boaters had been leaving huge trash bags from their boats. Lids were locked so you couldn't shove a large bag of trash into them. Dering harbor has hundreds of boats moored and lots of weekend sailors plus all those how pick up transient moorings and anchor. Their solution was reasonable and cost a few pennies. Disposing of trash from boats is a problem.

Northport has a dumpster in the parking lot next to the Harbor which anyone can use and many trash cans without small opening lids. This town has 2x the boats as Dering Harbor, but the town is willing to provide trash collection because the park is popular and many pedestrians, tourists and boaters visit it. They don't allow food vendors however, probably not because of trash but to support the local restaurants, and delis who sell take out food. The town is very clean and they provide dog poop bags free in the park.

Humans create waste and the packaging of everything we buy adds to it. We need solutions not NIMBY attitudes.
 
#21 ·
Given when traveling by boat or other means pickpockets and other untoward events occur. Regardless if you’re climbing off a mega yacht or old boat unless you’re surrounded by security personnel you’d be wise to dress down, wear no jewelry, not flash your money and in all ways be subdued.
Taking crap from keeping up with the Jones types is a small price to pay when you know you are living the life they can only dream about. I’ve seen this low key attitude in Boston Brahmins dressed in frayed rags who could “buy this town and put it in my shoe” as Jimi Hendrix said and farmers in their dirt encrusted overalls who could buy the city. Question is whether your choices are for you or how you’re seen in the eyes of others.
 
#25 ·
So, am I to understand that most of the folks here actually would eat in a restaurant that serves commercially packaged ketchup? As opposed to fresh stuff they make on their own premises? Really now, have standards around here gotten so low?

I had been told, perhaps incorrectly, that Germany addressed the issue of excess packaging years ago, requiring stores to accept for recycling, whatever they were selling. So toothpaste tubes sold in cellowrapped cardboard boxes? Yes, you can leave all that at the store, just take the tube. I'm not sure that I see much of the trash "issue" though. Just spread it out knee-deep, hope it never decays, and sooner or later you can raise the ground level to mitigate the effects of global warming.
 
#26 ·
Cockroaches are an issue throughout the Caribbean. All non critical wrapping is taken off before the article goes on the boat. Especially cardboard (roach and other insect eggs) and plastic (won’t throw it in the ocean).
Have a spray can of Bop and boric acid. Rarely need to use them.
 
#29 ·
Let's say you live across from a popular dinghy dock and many cruisers use it to go to town. I'll bet, if a cruiser saw you in your driveway and asked you for a favor to dispose of a single bag of trash, in the can you pay to have picked up each week, you'd agree to help out. This thread is about that same cruiser sneaking up your driveway and putting their garbage into your pail, without asking first.
 
#31 ·
Trash containers are not minded. People use them because they are there to place trash in. Sure a property owners and business PAY (usually) for trash to be collected and provide the appropriate container for it. Of course you would be pissed off if your container was filled up (and you end up paying for its removal).

So in Newport there IS a dumpster at the dinghy dock by the sailing center at the Armory. We use it. I believe there is one often at Kings Park pier... and we'll use that one too. There is also one or more over at Fort Adams. We put a grocery bag full because we don't store much rubbish aboard... at most to grocery bags.

Authorities should provide the service. I caught a woman.. who likely doesn't have a carting service leave a bunch of huge rubbish bags on the sidewalk next to a city trash can. Pretty creepy.

Hold your trash until you can dispose it properly.
 
#35 ·
Such conflicts are simply prevented by the service being provided to boaters by the government......
I'd say that most places I've been, have a trash container for the boaters. Some, such as Cuttyhunk, requires a $5 per bag fee paid on the honor system. I'm guessing the tone of this thread would suggest a dump and dash was entitled, because one bought some ice cream and a lobster on the island.

I've been to marinas and town docks that have explicitly stated there is no trash facilities. Therefore, I either find some permission ashore somewhere, or I store it to the next anchorage. Pretty simple.

Often, it's clear (small island) that trash removal is a real problem for them and they can't handle the added load. I highly suspect, in other cases, our cruising brethren have ruined it for the rest of us.

p.s. The government can't pay for anything whatsoever, they don't make any money. The rest of us pay for whatever they provide. There are good reasons for doing so, but I'll bet those that live ashore aren't so interested in underwriting our cost of trash removal.
 
#33 ·
The mafia ran the garbage business for quite a few years. Not real interested in turning it over to the most inefficient gang of gangsters, the government, unless absolutely necessary. At least like Mussolini the mafia made the trains run on time so to speak.
Interested in pressing business to use less plastic in packaging and less packaging altogether.
I get a fair amount of stuff through the internet. It’s amazing how much wasteful packaging it comes in.
 
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