I woke up this morning still wiped out from yesterday’s festivities. My 4th of July celebration actually started on the day before, as we get everything ready early on the 3rd and then head over to the Rec Center about 4:00 PM to grab our prime spot so we have it for the next day. We have been in the same spot for over 10 years. Each year we have been getting there an hour or so earlier than we did the year before, as more and more people start showing up each year. We usually have about 10 to 15 friends show up that night and we hang out, play games, and socialize to about midnight. Then we have at least 2 guys camp out in a tent to keep the spot.

Well this year we had lunch over at Callahan’s, and after we ate (around 1:30), me and my boys drove by the Rec Center to see if people had already started setting up for the next day. To my surprise there were tons of people already staking out spots. Someone had even taken our traditional spot.

Now, I would not have been mad at all if I saw someone sitting there holding the spot. I would have walked over and said, “Bummer, you got our favorite spot”, asked him what time he got there, and that would have been that. But that is not what happened.

These guys came early in the morning and took plastic tape (like police tape) and wrapped it around a couple of trees and a few chairs to mark their territory, and then left, leaving no one there to hold the spot. Then they showed up about 4:30 in the afternoon and started setting up.

In my opinion, that is just not right. That is like waiting in line to buy tickets to some big event coming up and putting your chair there 2 days early, and then showing up when the ticket box opens up.

I actually went around and spoke to several people that had been there all day and they said that they saw lots of people getting there at 7 AM and taping off areas and then going to work for the day. There were even a couple of real young guys that taped off their area on the night of July 2nd and then showed up around 5 PM on the 3rd. Now that is really crazy.

Okay, I am going to quit rambling on about this, as we actually got a fine spot and we had a great day. That just really bugged me at the time and I promised myself I would write a post and see what other people thought. So, if you would please leave a comment below letting me know what you think about people being able to hold a spot without actually being there, I would really appreciate it. I may be totally wrong in my thinking… that is why I want to get your opinion.

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