Harassed for having radio in public park

[Tommahawk]

Tonight at approximately 1930 local time I had just arrived at one of the local parks which is open dawn to dusk with my 4 year old son so he could play on the playground. I come to this place at least 2 - 3 times a week during the summer months with my son. We had just visited another ham radio friend of mine that lives very close by and I had promised my son we would stop there on the way home.

I parked my vehicle, got out of the vehicle and walked to the benches where I plopped myself, and placed my Wacker Radio on the bench beside myself (Motorola MTS-2000) . My son went and did what he does... He played on the kid stuff at the playground.

After literally two minutes of sitting there I saw this fairly attractive 30ish female staring at me. Well being the male I am I stared back. Didn't know what she wanted. Anyway 30 seconds later a child walks up and asks me what the radio is for. I told her that I am a ham radio operator and I like to listen to the radio and talk on it...... Ok still no problem...

This lady continues to stare at me and walks down and demands to know what I am doing with the radio. She asked me if I was a cop and I answered her no. Then what are you doing with the radio she asked. I told her that I like to listen to and talk on the radio because I am a ham radio operator. I asked her if it was a problem with it and she said yes it was because she has never seen anyone sit at the park with a two way radio and that she cares about her kids. She said I was suspicious because I had the radio. Oh yeah... I was also "rubbing" myself"... Probably she saw me scratching my nuts.......

No I'm not some scruffy guy that is unkept. I shave and shower everyday, brush my teeth, comb my hair, and dress for the weather, in this case knee high athletic shorts and sneakers. I look much more "normal" than some of hams portrayed here and on Hamsexy.com

Back to my post.......

At this point and time I am WTF? I come to this park fairly often and normally people are more curious about the hobby than the radio itself. I normally always sit in the same place because of the shade trees and sit without moving the entire time.

I was pretty pissed at this point because she was accusing me of being some type of a pervert. So I just had to blurt it out..... I then asked her why she was wearing blue shorts in the park because I have never seen anyone female wearing shorts in the park I also asked her why she was harassing me and if she was placing me under arrest. I told her is was suspicious that she was wearing blue shorts and I thought the police should be called.

I looked at her as she was carrying a child and asked her if the child were her's..... If she was going to accuse me of doing ugly things then I would in turn do the same thing. Afterall, fair play goes both ways. Well she said so you are looking at this child. I told her yes I was because I was concerned that the child wasn't hers and I was suspicious of her intentions.

She said there is a big difference between harassment and being placed under arrest and that if I kept it up I would see both. Once again I was stunned that this arrogant female kept this up.

I then found my 4 year old son and loudly told him to stay away from the strange lady because I thought she was a lunatic and told him that the lady wanted to call the police on me because I was carrying a two way radio. Maybe this was the wrong thing to do as my 4 year old son is very forward. He took it upon himself to call the lady a "jerk" and told her to leave the park because he thought she was weird. I normally don't allow my 4 year old son to even utter these words but I was surprised by his response to her. He told her he was going to call the police on her.

And then she left me have it with both barrels.... She told me that she was a Attorney and she knows the law better than me (yatta yatta yatta) and that it is against the law to have a two way radio unless you are a member of a law enforcement agency or other public safety agency. I laughed at her and I told her she really doesn't have a clue about what she is talking about. She must totally be insane.....

I then told her I really don't give a sh*t if she was a attorney because I'm not afraid of her title. I told her that she was the one harassing me and if she were a attorney then she would have a clue to the law. I asked her to leave since she was harassing me and she then told me this shouldn't be something that is discussed in front of the children. I told her that if she wouldn't had started in on me like that both her and I would be enjoying our time with our children.

I guess she finally found out that after repeating to her twice that I didn't care if she was a attorney she finally got the hint and left. I told her she was ignorant and just because she is a attorney doesn't mean that she has the 1st clue about life....

Ok... Done with Rant.....

[WisconsinRailfan]

You should see what happens when you show up at the park with a small generator, HF rig, and throw a wire up in the tree, and start calling CQ CQ CQ....

[KC0QNB]

Wow, this was quite a read, I probably wouldn't have commented on her shorts, and what followed, but I did say probably, and she thought you were the lunatic? You have to wonder what goes on in her life that makes her so high and mighty, and a lawyer no less, I think not. I wonder where she read that law that it was illegal for anyone but cops to have radios? This was a real humdinger of a story, thanks for sharing it!

[GreatLakes]

Unfortunately in this day and age, she probably panicked thinking you might be a pedophile.

When we moved into our new home seven years ago, we had a big snow storm. I came home from work, and got the snow blower out. I noticed a kid across the street, a couple houses down, trying to shovel the snow. It was deep, wet, and heavy snow and he was really struggling. So I went over there, waved hi, and started helping him clear the snow. When I was done, I waved bye, never said a word because of the noise from the snow blower. I finished my snow and went in the house. About a half hour later, I hear someone banging hard on my front door, and ringing the bell. I look out, and it's a woman...the kids mother. I opened the door, and she proceeded to interrogate me as to why I came over and cleared their snow! I explained, and she said we don't need, or want your help, and left in a huff.

At the time I was really puzzled. Then my wife said maybe she was scared for her son. Why I asked? She said when our two boys were young, she used to get scared when older men would approach them, or talk to them. I never thought of it that way. Hell when I was a kid I used to go ice fishing with the guy next door. Another neighbor used to help me fix, or modify my bike. One neighbor showed me how to use wood working equipment, and build bird houses. Nothing bad ever happened. Sad times we live in.

[jon_k]

Originally Posted by GreatLakes

Unfortunately in this day and age, she probably panicked thinking you might be a pedophile.

Ahhhhhhh yes. We always love to fight the wars that can never be won -- and get paranoid and scared of them. People seem to enjoy fearing something all the time.

* War on communism (oops, that dropped when we became buds with China I guess.)
* War on drugs
* War on terror
* War on pedophiles

I say next we do the war on shorts! They can cut you if you string the fabric out into threads and slice your neck in a fast motion! DANGEROUS! KIDS DIE EACH YEAR THIS WAY! OH MY GOD. I'M GOING TO SIT NAKED IN MY CLOSET WITH DUCT TAPE NOW.

Kids are going to grow up socially inept because they're parents are so terrified of them having human contact that can hurt them.

[KC0QNB]

Originally Posted by GreatLakes

Unfortunately in this day and age, she probably panicked thinking you might be a pedophile.

When we moved into our new home seven years ago, we had a big snow storm. I came home from work, and got the snow blower out. I noticed a kid across the street, a couple houses down, trying to shovel the snow. It was deep, wet, and heavy snow and he was really struggling. So I went over there, waved hi, and started helping him clear the snow. When I was done, I waved bye, never said a word because of the noise from the snow blower. I finished my snow and went in the house. About a half hour later, I hear someone banging hard on my front door, and ringing the bell. I look out, and it's a woman...the kids mother. I opened the door, and she proceeded to interrogate me as to why I came over and cleared their snow! I explained, and she said we don't need, or want your help, and left in a huff.

At the time I was really puzzled. Then my wife said maybe she was scared for her son. Why I asked? She said when our two boys were young, she used to get scared when older men would approach them, or talk to them. I never thought of it that way. Hell when I was a kid I used to go ice fishing with the guy next door. Another neighbor used to help me fix, or modify my bike. One neighbor showed me how to use wood working equipment, and build bird houses. Nothing bad ever happened. Sad times we live in.

How true, I will give the kid and mom across and down brownie points for the kid trying to scoop the snow, here the kids don't do that sort of thing, I scooped a lot of snow when I was a kid, and made pretty good money at it, for a kid anyway, $20-40 a day with a good snow.
I just heard on the scanner, a call about some juveniles pushing bleachers and picnic tables in the pond in a town about 25 miles away, the officer responded to the call and later he said that the bleachers and the picnic tables were out of the pond and back where they started, the kids returned the items to their proper places, probably got wet in the process, of course my first thought was good job Mr policeman.
But you know what will happen in the next few days, after the kids tell their parents that this real mean old cop made them put the stuff back, and they had nothing to do with putting them in the pond in the first place. It could get ugly.
Makes me really worry about what the future holds.

[ridgescan]

Sad times indeed! I feel for kids nowadays because there are waaaaay more child predators now than ever. I feel lucky that I grew up in the 60s-70s. Sure I know it was around then but not nearly as bad as now AND we have the fast-on-it media piping it right to your home! This "lady" IMO was totally out of line the way she treated you-one must always leave some room for error! But who can blame folks nowadays for being paranoid to a point? The kids.....dont think they aren't filing these horrors as they can comprehend. Who knows-her kid may have suffered an attack already-or even HER! It's truly sad for all

[CDS-INC]

There are alot of people who do blow things way out of porportion when it comes to children, but as a father and an uncle, i do understand their concern when they see a stranger or someone they do not know talking to their or any child.
While people should approach these situations better than what was exampled by the people in these stories, you just have to remember what is on the news and in the papers all the time.

One thing i learned in 15 years of having a scanner and numerous radios,

People are very ignorant when it comes to the radio and ham hobby, They do not understand the fundementals of Radio or Ham, nor do they understand how a radio or scanner works besides the coined phrase of "walkie talkie" or "CB Radio".
They automatically assume all radios are CB's and they know nothing of Repeaters, Trunked Radio Systems, Privacy Codes Ect, Let alone know how to operate or program a radio.
As this does frustrate me as well when someone is "Radio Stupid", It would be just as if i sat in the control room at NASA or Tried to design a bridge.

You just have to shrug them off and enjoy the benifits of this hobby

[rescue128]

Wow, Ive been called a dork before for carrying my MTS2000 or my TK-3140, I use mine for ham and to listen to my Fire Dept / Dispatch.

Never seen that reaction, however around this time last year I heard my neighbor lighting off fireworks (illegal ones) I figured I would go over, have a brew and enjoy the show. I had gotten back from the station, and still had my radio and pager on my belt, and was wearing an FD shirt. All of the sudden some kid i didnt know in my neighbors yard (his nephew I had never met) screams. OH SH*T THE COPS and runs into the garage. At this time I turn around myself looking to see if there were sheriffs nearby, never realizing that the kid thought I was the cops coming to bust them for fireworks. At that time my neighbor walked out to look for the cops too, only to find me standing puzzeled in the front yard of his house. We all had a good laugh over that one. I then advised him that if the cops were realling coming, that might not be to bright to scream that and run away, that might not turn out so well.

[KC0QNB]

I must confess I don't have any two legged kids, only kids with four legs, 5 in total, I have unofficially adopted a few two legged ones over the years, but now is not even a good idea to even talk to them without mom/dad very close by. I know a few kids that are hams, and I rarely even talk to them. I can understand where the parents are coming from, but sadly I cannot fully relate to them, no experience.

[af5rn]

Originally Posted by GreatLakes

I opened the door, and she proceeded to interrogate me as to why I came over and cleared their snow! I explained, and she said we don't need, or want your help, and left in a huff.

At the time I was really puzzled.

I was thinking maybe the old bat was punishing her son by making him shovel the snow, and you screwed up her abusive plan.

[jleverin]

Granted she was a little paranoid to question you about the radio, the best course of action would have been to take your kid and leave once it was clear she thought you were "suspicious". Arguing with that kind of a woman will just get you in trouble for harrassment, especially since she advertized she was an "attorney". That's the main reason I never take my radios outside the house, I don't want to draw attention to myself by people that might think it's "wierd" to be listening to a two way radio. The only way I take mine out is sometimes in the car and I NEVER take them into a park or place of business with me. She probably didn't even know what a "ham" was.......shame.... Yeah, and scratching yourself in public probably wasn't the best course of action either! Some people are ultra aware of their surroundings especially when kids are involved!

[zz0468]

I think you're a complete idiot and handled that very poorly. She approached you worried that you might be some sort of weirdo, and you confirmed her worst fears. Well done. *eye roll*

The proper way to deal with situations like that is to be as nice and rational and friendly as you can muster, explain the hobby, maybe give a short demonstration, and polish it up with an admission to being the biggest dork that side of the Mississippi river. Or whatever - throw some humor in it.

Instead, she's probably convinced that all hams are whackers, child molesters, with anger control issues. You probably went wrong when you asked her if it was a problem.

She may have just wanted to talk to you before your attitude put her on the offensive. People are NOT that touchy about radios.

[mciupa]

Originally Posted by Tommahawk

After literally two minutes of sitting there I saw this fairly attractive 30ish female staring at me. Well being the male I am I stared back. She said I was suspicious ..
Oh yeah... I was also "rubbing" myself"... Probably she saw me scratching my nuts.......

http://www.emoticons4u.com/fingers/fing20.gif

Dude, remember you are a role model to your four year old.
Did he and the other youngsters really have to witness your argument in the playground?
Do your nut scratching in private.

[rankin39]

What a wonderful opportunity to have some fun. Gee, when the gal approached you, you could have picked up your HT, assumed a "foreign" accent and said into the mike "We are ready now! Are you ready Ahmed? ALLAH HU AKBAR ! " (Then make sure you're a distance away when Homeland Security arrives). :-)

Alternatively, if you wanted to be *really* mean, wait till the cops arrive, then deny having said anything and tell the cops "I question whether this person should be permitted to be an officer of the court with all the mental "issues" she has."

As you can see, I don't have much use for officious busybodies.

Bob

[zguy1243]

ROFL thats good!

Originally Posted by rankin39

What a wonderful opportunity to have some fun. Gee, when the gal approached you, you could have picked up your HT, assumed a "foreign" accent and said into the mike "We are ready now! Are you ready Ahmed? ALLAH HU AKBAR ! " (Then make sure you're a distance away when Homeland Security arrives). :-)

Alternatively, if you wanted to be *really* mean, wait till the cops arrive, then deny having said anything and tell the cops "I question whether this person should be permitted to be an officer of the court with all the mental "issues" she has."

As you can see, I don't have much use for officious busybodies.

Bob

[RolnCode3]

Originally Posted by mciupa

Dude, remember you are a role model to your four year old.
Did he and the other youngsters really have to witness your argument in the playground?
Do your nut scratching in private.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Right or wrong, act like an adult.

[ibagli]

Originally Posted by ridgescan

Sad times indeed! I feel for kids nowadays because there are waaaaay more child predators now than ever.

No, there aren't. We just hear about it more. And people are encouraged to report sex crimes, which didn't used to be taken as seriously as they are now. Unfortunately that leads to ridiculous overreactions in order to prevent something that statistically, the overreactions won't prevent (a high percentage of all crimes against children are from within the home, and all the "sex offender" laws in the world won't stop those).

[KC0QNB]

I'll be leaving now, this could get ugly, catch ya'll in the AM.

"The proper way to deal with situations like that is to be as nice and rational and friendly as you can muster, explain the hobby, maybe give a short demonstration, and polish it up with an admission to being the biggest dork that side of the Mississippi river. Or whatever - throw some humor in it."
Probably the better idea.

[bezking]

Originally Posted by Tommahawk

Tonight at approximately 1930 local time I had just arrived at one of the local parks which is open dawn to dusk with my 4 year old son so he could play on the playground. I come to this place at least 2 - 3 times a week during the summer months with my son. We had just visited another ham radio friend of mine that lives very close by and I had promised my son we would stop there on the way home.

(snip)

No I'm not some scruffy guy that is unkept. I shave and shower everyday, brush my teeth, comb my hair, and dress for the weather, in this case knee high athletic shorts and sneakers. I look much more "normal" than some of hams portrayed here and on Hamsexy.com

Back to my post.......

At this point and time I am WTF? I come to this park fairly often and normally people are more curious about the hobby than the radio itself. I normally always sit in the same place because of the shade trees and sit without moving the entire time.

I was pretty pissed at this point because she was accusing me of being some type of a pervert. So I just had to blurt it out..... I then asked her why she was wearing blue shorts in the park because I have never seen anyone female wearing shorts in the park I also asked her why she was harassing me and if she was placing me under arrest. I told her is was suspicious that she was wearing blue shorts and I thought the police should be called.

I looked at her as she was carrying a child and asked her if the child were her's..... If she was going to accuse me of doing ugly things then I would in turn do the same thing. Afterall, fair play goes both ways. Well she said so you are looking at this child. I told her yes I was because I was concerned that the child wasn't hers and I was suspicious of her intentions.

She said there is a big difference between harassment and being placed under arrest and that if I kept it up I would see both. Once again I was stunned that this arrogant female kept this up.

I then found my 4 year old son and loudly told him to stay away from the strange lady because I thought she was a lunatic and told him that the lady wanted to call the police on me because I was carrying a two way radio. Maybe this was the wrong thing to do as my 4 year old son is very forward. He took it upon himself to call the lady a "jerk" and told her to leave the park because he thought she was weird. I normally don't allow my 4 year old son to even utter these words but I was surprised by his response to her. He told her he was going to call the police on her.

And then she left me have it with both barrels.... She told me that she was a Attorney and she knows the law better than me (yatta yatta yatta) and that it is against the law to have a two way radio unless you are a member of a law enforcement agency or other public safety agency. I laughed at her and I told her she really doesn't have a clue about what she is talking about. She must totally be insane.....

I then told her I really don't give a sh*t if she was a attorney because I'm not afraid of her title. I told her that she was the one harassing me and if she were a attorney then she would have a clue to the law. I asked her to leave since she was harassing me and she then told me this shouldn't be something that is discussed in front of the children. I told her that if she wouldn't had started in on me like that both her and I would be enjoying our time with our children.

I guess she finally found out that after repeating to her twice that I didn't care if she was a attorney she finally got the hint and left. I told her she was ignorant and just because she is a attorney doesn't mean that she has the 1st clue about life....

Ok... Done with Rant.....

Good for you for handling this "legal eagle" the way you did. Too many people would have just gotten up and left.