Arrogance of Non-MDers

hbeaton

Sr. Member
Jun 4, 2005
354
807
Virginia Beach, VA
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-Trac
This is more of a thinking out loud kind of post.

A few days ago, in my local neighborhood, I found myself detecting in the backyard area of a middle school. I was having a good day, finding coins here and there. I was careful to put back the date as perfectly as I could. I used an old rag to pile the dirt on when I was digging. I carried a small trash bag with me to put any cans or other trash debris that I came along, to sort of maintain a semblence of cleaning up the area a little as I was taking the coins from it. A give and take if you will. Anyway, a custodian of the school came out to watch what I was doing, he watched as I put the dirt back in the holes and put the coin in my pouch. At first, he didn't say anything but then after I did that, he asked my what did I think I was doing? I told him that I was metal detecting and had found a coin (obviously) and that among other things was putting in trash I dug up in a bag to be thrown away. He gave me a really hard time about digging and messing up the ground and that it was illegal to hunt on school grounds.

I'm a patient man and I was calm and cool as he spoke. When he finished, I was going to just apologize and leave, but I didn't. I dont think in hindsight this was a bad move. I first told him that it is not "illegal" to hunt school grounds. As it's a public school, the school and anything around the school property are public goods that are shared communally and no one is excludable from it. I then showed him about what he thought disturbing the soil meant and he said it kills the grass and people could hurt themselves tripping over a hole. As this field was used by football players with quarter inch spikes all day long, i'm sure my detector holes pale in comparison to the way this field is abused. I then asked him to find another hole that I had dug. He looked for about thirty seconds and then found one. I then showed up the grid of my hunting area and about 10 other holes he simply walked over (not tripped).

In response to the legality, I asked him to accompany me about 50 feet to a sign at the entrance of the schoolyard ( I guess he never bothered to look). It was a sign from the locality saying that it was illegal to hit golf balls and that there we no dogs allowed pursuant to a local code that is on the sign. Nowhere did it say anything about metal detecting. He said well they can't put everything on a sign. I said metal detecting isnt an modern activity and that localities know about such things and if they thought it was a problem they would have put it somewhere. (maybe or maybe not). Lastly, I pulled the tax argument that I'm a student at Penn State which is the lifeblood of the town. I'm a resident of the county and pay taxes, vote in elections. Taxes which help pay his salary and maintain the school I was hunting at as some of our taxes are redistributed to local schools and parks, etc.

As this was ending, another man approached who I saw walking to his car. It was the superintendant of the school district. He at first gave me a look to suggest he was angry. He then asked who this man was and he introduced himself. The superintendant then basically scolded the custodian for what he said to me and that I indeed was right about the points I made. The custodian left and the superintendant informed me he was an avid MDer and that I could hunt here whenever I wanted and that anyone had a problem with that, come to him.

Alls well that ends well.

HH!

Don't take crap if you don't have to.

-Hunter
 

Upvote 0
HERE-HERE hbeaton,
Glad you stood your ground and kept yourself in a professional manner while dealing with someone ignorant to the fact. I have never come across any one who has given me a bad time, but will sure insits that my behaviour is professional, courteous, and spoken in a mild manner.

Keep up the detecting and post your finds.

49er
 

GOOD FOR YOU HUNTER.

I Not only Commend You For sticking Up for Your Rights,

I THANK YOU For All Of Us.

JEFF
 

I think you are lucky the Super knew what was going on. If you had gotten the same response I think it would have been approiate to return everything you found, Can you imagine the look on their faces when you slung the trash and coins far and wide.

No, I doubt I would do that either and it wouldn't look good on the hobby but it sure would feel good and would make a good point.

Now you can go back with confidence because you did the right thing. WTG. Maybe you'll find something of value and you can call the Super or Principal to return it, he might just put you on another spot. No good deed goes unrewarded or appreciated.
 

The best thing is to know your rights and be legal. Ask for permission when you have to do so. I legally detected a castle built in 1107 last weekend and found nothing. Don't offer too much info to strangers about your finds, they will get jealous and create problems. Most of the people I talk to when MDing are just curious about what I am doing. I have gained info or a new detecting field from most of them, don't be shy and talk to the people, you just might get a hot spot through casual conversation about the hobby. HH, Mike
 

I belived you handled the situation with poise. Even before I started metal detecting I understood that public schools are public property. I think you should get up with the supt. and go detecting. I know of a public school that has " No Tresspassing " signs all over the place. I don't think that it is right, but I have not challenged it either. I have decided to contact the school and ask for permission anyhow.... Well done !!!
 

Good job on standing up for your rights...
I personally don't like to hunt directly on any playing field during the seasons they' re being used...
I just don't want to be responsible for someone tripping over one of my holes and getting hurt.
But, to each his own, and I'm right there with ya, on your right to hunt...
Good luck & Happy hunting~
 

Way to go Hbeaton,You kept it Cool and Courteous and thats what counted.Penn State is a great School and I am glad to see that intelligence prevailed. HH ?
 

Nice story and I'm glad you didn't turn tail and run.

This kind of thing is in almost everything today in one form or another. There are those who have ideas and they think everyone else should think the exact same way.

Just today some nut on ebay sends me a threatening email about how he's coming after me for selling coins found at Civil War sites. I made it clear that they come from private property near the battle grounds but that makes no difference to wackos.

I reported the whole deal to law enforcement, ebay, etc., and kept my item on ebay! According to this guy I'm toast in about two weeks. My guess it's someone who forgot to take his medication.

Anyway, don't let these poor misguided souls (euphemism) spoil your fun.
 

Very good points you displayed. I have never experienced this sort of biligerence, but I do stand my ground when I think I am right, especially when it comes to this hobby. Make em prove it when they say you can't. I have found that 90% of the time, these people, complaining know-it-alls, arn't even in a position of dictating restrtictions. It's just their opinions or their feelings on the hobby. WTG
 

Great going!! I admire people that can stay calm and rational like you did. I'v not always been able to do as well. In situations like that, often times, words escape me, an anger fills me. And most likely I would have been chasing him around the field. I'm thankful there's people like you that can keep a cool head. I feel it helps to counter mistakes, that at least, I know I have made. My hats off to you. WTG!! HH
 

Thanks from all of us for sticking up for what we do and having the background knowledge to back it up!

Amen to that!


HH

Steven
 

hybeaton,
Let me say that I am very glad that your problem worked out so well.
BUT...even though everyone is cheering you on, I feel I must throw in a slightly different word.
In the same position, I believe that I would have packed up my things, left, called the local School Boarg to find out the facts, and then have gone back with a permission form from the Superintendent or Head of the School Board.
You were absolutely correct in (almost)everything you said to the custodian, but did you really think you were going to change his mind? I have met those "fine upstanding citizens" who cannot understand our addiction to the great sport of MD'ing. Many of them believe what they say, even though we KNOW that they are wrong. How do we convince them that we are not maniacs? Play the game!
You were indeed fortunate that the Superintendent was a fan. Because you were wrong about one small point. Public schools are NOT public property. (Try hanging out there at one or two in the morning and see how quickly John Law shows up and asks you to leave.) In Virginia, (don't know about Penn) public schools are ..."open to those who have legitimate business during normal business or activity hours" and..."in those areas deemed appropriate"
I am probably mistaken, but I believe that the law is worded like that so they can keep wackos away
from the children.
grizzly bare
 

grizzly bare said:
hybeaton,
You were indeed fortunate that the Superintendent was a fan. Because you were wrong about one small point. Public schools are NOT public property.

I know what you're saying and you're right. I knew this when I read his letter but like everyone else I wanted to encourage him. And besides this I'm facing a deal myself that got me a little worked up. Glad you have a cool head.

Yes, he can be thankful that custodian didn't just call in the fuss. While football players do make a mess sometimes that's considered part of school procedure. Digging treasure holes with a gardening spade on school or park property can be placed in the same category as digging holes with your motorcycle. It's all up to the discretion of the judge (if it should go that far).

Public places are protected like non-public places. People can't just do whatever they like on public property. You can't burn the buildings down, drill for oil, dynamite, or do anything else deemed hostile by the officials of that public property.? Just have a chat with any law enforcement person in that area and he can tell you fast what happens to people who are reported as vandalizing public propertries. Now, we know we're not doing that--but, the person in charge may have a different point-of-view. In court the THer may win but only after all the hassle of having to show for court, etc.

The smart way is to clear things up legally before hostilities start. Ask first, then proceed as necessary.
 

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