Lovely Day In The Park
Picture this: It’s a lovely day in the park on a gorgeous afternoon. The wind brushes through the leaves as you stroll around collecting trash as part of your volunteer work. The playful squeals of children in the nearby playground give off a peaceful ambiance as you tend to the needs of the park.
As you approach the back entrance of the park, you can’t help but notice a rather large and unsightly tire track going right over the park’s grass off to the side. Perplexed, you scratch your head wondering how someone could ever think to do such a thing.
With the cold and muddy ground caused by the presence of winter, it is to your dismay the tire tracks aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
The actual driveway is well separated from the grass, yet somehow, someone managed to completely miss it and head straight for the glass you work so hard to maintain.
This is exactly what happened to “Monica,” a full-time employee for an undisclosed park. Monica took so much pride in her work. It was only natural for her to be deeply troubled by the carelessness of a visitor.
But alas, there wasn’t much she could do about it. So, Monica called her supervisor who informed her she and he will have to replant some seeds once the weather warmed up. However, as Monica was tending to the park a few days later, she witnessed a minivan completely plow through the grass.
Monica had found the culprit responsible all along.
Now came the hard part.
Confronting them.
~
The Confrontation
Monica had no time to be dumbfounded by the inconsiderate driver. Monica filled her lungs with air before she sprinted toward the van still driving through the grass. With her arms waving, Monica motioned for the driver to stop.
Thankfully, the driver pulled over. The window rolled down slowly, revealing the confused look of a woman. Monica soon learned her name was “Helen.”
The woman raised her eyebrows over the pair of thick sunglasses she wore. Monica also noticed two children casually sitting in the back, deeply intrigued by their tablets playing some obnoxious children’s show.
“What?” The bewildered mother gripped the steering wheel so hard Monica could see the whites of her knuckles.
“Excuse me, miss. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Monica began. “I’m one of the park workers. You drove your vehicle right over the grass. Because of how soggy the ground is, the grass gets damaged easily.”
“Okay?”
Monica couldn’t believe how nonchalant Helen was acting. She wasn’t quite expecting an apology, but any decent human being would have offered one for damaging property that didn’t belong to them.
Nonetheless, Monica sucked it up and tried to educate Helen on the proper exit procedures of the park.
“I’m just asking that you please drive on the designated path for vehicles. The tire tracks your vehicle left behind harms the grass. It will have to be replaced. If it was a mistake then it’s fine, but please be more careful. Thanks, and have a great day!”
Monica didn’t let Helen’s incredulous look intimidate her. She could easily make out the narrowed eyes of the annoyed woman from behind the frames of her sunglasses as she took a step back from the vehicle to watch her leave. Helen scoffed as she adjusted herself in the seat.
“Whatever,” Monica heard Helen grumble under her breath as she sped off. Normally, Monica would have been relieved at someone like that leaving in the park. However, she had a disturbing hunch it wasn’t going to be the last time she heard from this troublesome park visitor.
~
Repeat Offender
The days that followed were rather nice for Monica. With the help of her supervisor, Monica was able to replant some seeds and pat down the disturbed dirt from Helen’s van. Monica was excited to see how the grass would turn out because of how much time and effort they put in. She was even confident the grass would gross back even better than how it was before.
Later in the afternoon, Monica was casually strolling back to her designated area to patrol when she saw a familiar vehicle parked at the park’s back entrance. Right across from the jungle gym, Helen’s van stood like an ominous figure looming in the distance.
After inching closer to the area, Monica spotted Helen herself. Sitting on a bench, the woman was scrolling away on her phone while her children played. Monica hoped that Helen would take to heart what she said days ago about the hard work that goes into taking care of the grass in the park.
However, after recalling the way Helen scowled at her and seemed completely uninterested in the wrong she did, Monica knew better than to get her hopes up. Monica began collecting trash so she could stall and linger in the area for a while. Patiently, Monica waited until she heard Helen call her children over so they could leave.
Immediately, Monica dropped what she was doing and raced to the entrance she knew Helen would be departing from. Not caring how obvious she looked, Monica planted herself next to a different car in the parking lot. A pair of shades waited for Monica in the park-issued fanny pack that she quickly slid on so she could watch Helen’s actions as she exited the park.
Within minutes, Monica saw Helen’s van making its way to the entrance. The way the car kept moving, she was certain Helen had not recognized her which was all part of the plan.
Helen continued driving her car up the road. To Monica’s dismay, Helen drove right over to the same spot she and her supervisor worked so hard to fix earlier in the week. Seeing Helen’s careless behavior infuriated Monica. Without a moment’s hesitation, Monica stepped out into the middle of the path, forcing Helen to pull over.
Helen rolled down her window as Monica approached the vehicle. The woman was sneering as she watched Monica through the same sunglasses from yesterday.
“Oh my God, lady. What do you want now?”
Monica didn’t bother trying to hide her annoyance. “Ma’am we just finished fixing the area you messed up days ago and now you ran over it again!”
Helen shook her head and made a smacking sound with her lips. “So? It’s just freaking grass! Just make that whole area pavement and maybe people won’t run it over.”
Monica snapped.
“You can clearly see the grass in front of you when you drive up from the back area. It doesn’t come out of nowhere and we’ve never had anyone run over that area. Only you.” The “you” was forced. Monica maintained her composure as the abrasive woman continued to argue. Her children were in the back seat curiously looking up from their tablets at Monica and their aggravated mother.
Then without warning, Helen looked down then at the road in front of her.
Monica’s instincts sprang into action. Quickly she realized Helen was more than just a petty and inconsiderate person.
She was insane.
~
The Solution Is Simple
Monica made eye contact for a brief moment with Helen before she lurched back. At that very moment, Helen floored the gas pedal and took off down the road, nearly running over Monica’s feet.
Quivering, Monica found her footing and looked at where Helen’s van used to be. Seeing red was an understatement of describing just how angry she was at Helen’s actions. Taking one final glance at the distressed grass, Monica decided it was time to call in backup. Monica whipped out her phone and dialed the number for her supervisor. As soon as he answered, Monica spilled the beans about what happened. Monica made sure to include how she was nearly run over. She urged her supervisor that something needed to be done about Helen, or the grass would never grow back.
Monica’s supervisor was just as upset as she was. On the phone, he paused for a moment and then told Monica he believed he has an idea to stop Helen’s antics. Before Monica could ask, her supervisor told her to meet him at the park early the following morning.
The next day, Monica approached her supervisor’s truck and stopped dead in her tracks. Her supervisor was leaning on the side of the vehicle, waiting for her to arrive. His eyes beamed with pride as he saw Monica gawk at what he had strapped down in the bed of the truck.
The two of them opened the bed of the truck and took in the sight of a giant bolder Monica’s boss had acquired. Monica and her supervisor didn’t exchange words, but she knew exactly what the rock was for.
It didn’t take long for them to dig a nice-sized hole where the grass kept getting disturbed and place the boulder in its new home before covering the base with dirt. Monica grimaced at how the boulder was more of an eye sore than anything, but quickly remembered Helen wouldn’t be able to disturb the grass anymore.
A wave of relief washed over Monica. Her supervisor retreated to his truck and left Monica to begin her day of monitoring and tidying up the park. The morning started off rather peaceful, but as time would tell it, the day soon adopted a rather exhausting chain of events.
All thanks to Helen.
~
The Hard Way
It was much later in the afternoon when Monica saw Helen’s van pull into the parking lot next to the children’s playground. She paid the woman no mind while she continued her rounds picking up trash. With the boulder in place, certainty overcame Monica because she knew the grass was protected. Further issues from Helen seemed unlikely.
After some time passed, Monica was in the middle of cleaning bird poop off a statue in the park when she heard a loud crash. The sound was so sudden and violent it made Monica drop everything immediately and run toward what caused the commotion.
Her jaw plummeted to the ground once she saw the source of the sound.
Helen’s van was lopsided in the same patch of grass she and her supervisor placed the boulder on. Sure enough, Monica could see the boulder wedged between the front tire and the front bumper of Helen’s vehicle.
A befuddled Helen tentatively opened her door before letting loose a stream of profanity as she exited. She examined the damage on her vehicle before titled her head all the way back and screaming even more obscenities at the top of her lungs.
Monica stood motionless as she took in the sight. The sight of Helen’s damaged vehicle made her feel guilty more than anything. She genuinely didn’t want to see Helen’s van damaged, but she couldn’t help to wonder how on earth the woman couldn’t have seen the giant rock peeking from the grass.
“You!” The word struck Monica like a whip. “This is your fault!”
Monica shook her head. “Ma’am, my supervisor and I placed that there this morning to stop people from running over the grass. Again, how are you not able to see the grass as you leave this area?”
“Oh just shut up!” Helen snapped at Monica. “I didn’t see it because I was texting my friend! You’ll be paying for this!”
“We’ll see about that,” Monica retorted.
Helen cursed at Monica again before she stomped back to her mangled van and ordered her children to get out. The children walked over to a nearby picnic table with their tablets in hand. Helen then plopped down in the driver’s seat of the vehicle and started tapping away on her phone. Finally, Helen immediately pointed at Monica and yelled, “I’m calling the police!”
~
Conclusion
Monica knew she shouldn’t have been at fault for what Helen did to her vehicle. Nonetheless, hearing Helen mention the police was a bit unsettling. Monica didn’t put it past Helen to exaggerate the truth while reporting the incident to the dispatcher. While Helen babbled on the phone, Monica took a few paces back and called her supervisor.
After hearing what happened, Monica’s supervisor laughed before telling Monica he was on the way. He pulled up in his truck several minutes before the cops showed up. Monica saw he was still smiling to himself as he got out of his truck and approached the red-faced Helen who hadn’t calmed down even in the slightest.
Monica’s supervisor briefly introduced himself before having Helen jump down his throat about her vehicle.
“This is your fault!” Helen repeated over and over again.
Once the police arrived, Helen frantically explained her side of the story while the officer listened with a blank facial expression. Helen then said we intentionally caused the damage by placing the boulder in the grass. She ordered the cop to arrest both of us.
The police officer then asked for our side of the story. Monica’s supervisor calmly explained Helen had been driving over the grass multiple times a week even after we warned her not to. He then added the rock was placed there to stop her and other park visitors from driving over the area.
The officer thought for a while and then informed Helen the park had the right to place the rock in the area and was not at fault for her inability to follow the rules, her poor driving, or the damage to her vehicle.
Helen was livid.
She barked at her kids still waiting at the picnic table and told them to get back in the car. Everyone watched as Helen re-entered her vehicle before slamming the car door shut. She then put the car in reverse. Monica, her supervisor, and the cop watched in awe as Helen forcibly reversed her car which was still wedged on the boulder. The boulder continued to scratch up the underside of her car, making a horrible noise in the process.
Once Helen’s vehicle was freed but the bumper dropped to the ground before she spun off down the road. Something scraped the road as she drove away. Before she got very far, the cop got in his vehicle and slowed her down to inform her the her vehicle was too damaged to drive. In the end, Helen had to have it towed instead.
Monica and her supervisor laughed together as they watched an irritable Helen exit the vehicle once again. Monica was positive Helen wouldn’t be driving on the grass again any time soon.
~
