Happy 4th of July everyone! We had a great day today. First, we met my mom down at King Estate Winery near Eugene, to celebrate her birthday, which is the 5th. We had lunch and tasted some wine, it was a nice afternoon. We headed home and planned out our evening. Jennifer and Craig suggested meeting at the McMenamins Fulton Pub down off Macadam. There is a nice shady beer garden we ate dinner in and killed time before the fireworks. After dinner we walked over to Willamette Park to watch the Oaks Park fireworks display. We walked along a path where everybody else was walking, since we didn't really know where the best viewing was. As we walked along we saw a small gravel path that led down to a small beach on the river's edge. We walked down it and noticed the barge the fireworks are shot from was basically right in front of us, we thought it was perfect. That is, until the harassment began.
With the four of us on the beach there was probably a total of 12 people. The majority of those were down the beach a ways, so we felt we had a good location. Soon after I set up the tripod and camera two guys reeking of cheap beer and pot started loudly complaining about the "inconsiderate Californians," who don't know about the "30 yard rule." Apparently you are supposed to give all other people a 30 yard buffer, otherwise you are encroaching on their "aura." As most of you know, I'm not one to give in to the demands of an irrational stranger, or let harassment go unchecked. I kindly let him know that since we were all in a public space that we wouldn't be moving. At one point the ringleader got in my face and asked me if I wanted to "go." Actually he was as close to my face as he could get, only being 5'6". By this time Heidi was looking up the number for the police on my phone and discussing with some other people on the beach what these guys had threatened to do to them. The verbal abuse continued, he called me an "impecile," [sic] and a faggot, he also discussed how poorly I must of been raised since I didn't know how to share public space with others. The fireworks started and they shut up for the most part, and about 2/3rds through the show they left. They left behind a small cooler still mostly full of beer, so much for Leave No Trace. As they left I wished them farewell and that I hoped to see them next year. We didn't let it ruin our evening, it was a great show as you can see in the picture.
-G
With the four of us on the beach there was probably a total of 12 people. The majority of those were down the beach a ways, so we felt we had a good location. Soon after I set up the tripod and camera two guys reeking of cheap beer and pot started loudly complaining about the "inconsiderate Californians," who don't know about the "30 yard rule." Apparently you are supposed to give all other people a 30 yard buffer, otherwise you are encroaching on their "aura." As most of you know, I'm not one to give in to the demands of an irrational stranger, or let harassment go unchecked. I kindly let him know that since we were all in a public space that we wouldn't be moving. At one point the ringleader got in my face and asked me if I wanted to "go." Actually he was as close to my face as he could get, only being 5'6". By this time Heidi was looking up the number for the police on my phone and discussing with some other people on the beach what these guys had threatened to do to them. The verbal abuse continued, he called me an "impecile," [sic] and a faggot, he also discussed how poorly I must of been raised since I didn't know how to share public space with others. The fireworks started and they shut up for the most part, and about 2/3rds through the show they left. They left behind a small cooler still mostly full of beer, so much for Leave No Trace. As they left I wished them farewell and that I hoped to see them next year. We didn't let it ruin our evening, it was a great show as you can see in the picture.
-G
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