DEAR MISS MANNERS: My wife and I own a motor home and frequently enjoy camping in the great outdoors at state and national park campgrounds.
The problem I have is with other campers who seem to think (or not think at all) that it’s OK to cross through our campsite on their way to the shower house, a trail, another campsite, lake shore, etc. These are children as well as adults.
As a young Boy Scout, I was taught that a campsite is a rather personal space and that I needed to ask permission to enter or cross through another’s site.
Can you recommend a way to enlighten these “trespassers” without sounding like a curmudgeonly old man telling them to “GET OFF MY GRASS”?
GENTLE READER: While not a motor homeowner herself, Miss Manners has it on good authority that you are indeed justified. Decorum and civility dictate that the parameters of your campsite be considered temporarily yours and should not be trespassed.
Rather than resort to barking at strangers, however, she advises putting a large object such as a picnic table -- or leashed animal -- near the border to help discourage traffic. You could also bring a few strands of rope lights to outline the front area of the campsite.
And if all else fails, you could always resort to staging homegrown theatrics in the form of a big blowout fight. No doubt, that will keep EVERYONE away.
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)