Observations of a beach badge seller/checker

So, today is my first day of work and it was cancelled because it is supposed to rain.  There is no rain here.  Next weekend is supposed to be excellent.  Come on down!!

good luck Beege! Looking forward to the stories!

Annnnnnd, THEY'RE OFF!!!

Thanks shh and Peggy I will be at Water Street and Ocean in Point Pleasant - Gate 3 Saturday morning at 8AM!

Plans change all the time---I have not been to gate 3 yet much to my dismay...We started working Friday morning and I was at the Inlet-cool breezes all day....so cool that I froze my fanny off-(unfortunately, figuratively not realistically)...Saturday and Sunday brought myself into the Sweet Shoppe on the boardwalk to sell season passes....Air conditioning is as cool as ocean breezes sometimes!  But, who am I to complain??  It was heaven being back....on schedule for rest of the week and hopefully will make it to my gate 3-my little spot of heaven!  

They are back!!!  The summer sort of wackos....The best line so far are not one but two different women, at different times of the day, asking me to make the wristband loose because they were claustrophobic.  My response was that I was not putting this on their eyes (which I now realize has nothing to do with claustrophobia).  Anyway, almost all my regulars have checked in with me.  My sweet kid who wrote me love letters will not be working on my beach this year...he got an internship... my people who live by my gate have been nothing but gracious...ice for my cup, water, bathrooms, already wanting to make me lunch...Saw my Italian ices guy too...have not seen the Italian ices yet though...more to come....Enjoy your day wherever you are....I will be at my favorite place on earth (besides being next to my beloved hubby)!

bgs,  I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading your posts.  Thank you for putting a smile on my face and for making me feel, for a brief moment, that I am at the beach with you.  

Beeg, what Sarah says above..

Reading your posts gets me through my day inside. Almost as good as being there (but not quite 

Obviously have not been posting much-very early in the season and my story makers have not shown up yet...except for one guy who asked me not to pinch his arm hair when I was putting his wristband on.  I asked him how I could even do that and he did not know.  Everyone else in line laughed but he was dead serious.

Of course- the usual suspects are back trying to sneak on...but old eagle eye here has not had one sliip by me so far. 

School out now so I imagine vacationers will be down next week and the stories will spill forth-promise!

 >< 

This has been an odd summer thus far in terms of stories...I do have a new name-BBB-Beach Badge B-itch.  Apparently, because I question the year your child was born when it is obvious that she is older than 11 years old, I am a BBB.  What is more interesting to me is that when you cannot tell me what year she was born, you call me a bad name.  Another Mother got very upset with me after me catching her in a lie about one of her children.  She told me that I did not have to act mean.  That was rude of me.  "So", I say to her, "I am being mean when you lie to my face and I catch you in that lie".  She does not answer me and throws money at me and sulks away.  It is beyond me what people expect when they come to a privately owned  beach.  Do you not expect to pay money?  

Yesterday was a chilly, cloudy kind of rainy and very windy day.  We were opened for a couple of hours because there were volleyball tournaments on the beach. A woman told me that I had nerve to charge her because she could not go in the water.  I asked her why she wanted to go on the beach on such a nasty day....she had no answer.  

My letter writing teenager came back to visit on Wednesday.  He tried to smooze me up to let him on the beach for free.  I told him that I could not and he said that I would probably not be getting anymore notes from him.  I am heartbroken.   Not. 

Hoping for some good stories this week...it has been a little boring this summer thus far.  BBB!

you are def a BBB ............Best Beach Babe!!!

librarylady said:

you are def a BBB ............Best Beach Babe!!!

+1

Hah! I'm not calling you Beege any more. You have just been promoted to "BBB"!

You should print out a bunch of those fold-out cards that says "Jesus loves you; everyone else thinks you're an a-hole."  And hand them out with a smile.  LOL!  (Well, it's a nice fantasy!) 

Sorry you're getting the darker side of people.  Are you in a different spot than last year?  Maybe all your nice folks from last year are going to other beach entrances?

I've noticed the police patrolling the Bradley Beach beach quite often lately, checking people's coolers apparently. Do you see that a lot where you are? They seem to be looking for alcohol and/or glass bottles, both of which are not allowed. They're as polite as can be, but they do issue tickets.

(Side note: Some of these police don't look old enough to vote. I think of them as "junior rangers.")

unicorn33 said:

I've noticed the police patrolling the Bradley Beach beach quite often lately, checking people's coolers apparently. Do you see that a lot where you are? They seem to be looking for alcohol and/or glass bottles, both of which are not allowed. They're as polite as can be, but they do issue tickets.

(Side note: Some of these police don't look old enough to vote. I think of them as "junior rangers.")

Are they rent-a-cops?  Several years ago a friend of mine, a single mother of 3, with her 3 children, was tackled on the boardwalk at PP, handcuffed and arrested for stealing a T-shirt (she paid for it and had a receipt).  All courtesy of a rent-a-cop -- and the town paid dearly.

Wow. How awful.  I'm glad she made the town pay.

I don't believe the BB cops are rent-a-cops, but how can you tell? They look and act like regular police.

I've noticed that in Belmar the cops often check for badges. I suppose every town has its priorities. 

Places like PP and Wildwood, which have boardwalk amusements, pose special challenges because of the crowds, teens, etc.

mumstheword said:

unicorn33 said:

I've noticed the police patrolling the Bradley Beach beach quite often lately, checking people's coolers apparently. Do you see that a lot where you are? They seem to be looking for alcohol and/or glass bottles, both of which are not allowed. They're as polite as can be, but they do issue tickets.

(Side note: Some of these police don't look old enough to vote. I think of them as "junior rangers.")

Are they rent-a-cops?  Several years ago a friend of mine, a single mother of 3, with her 3 children, was tackled on the boardwalk at PP, handcuffed and arrested for stealing a T-shirt (she paid for it and had a receipt).  All courtesy of a rent-a-cop -- and the town paid dearly.

We do not have rent-a-cops at my boardwalk.  They are for real PPB police officers.  It is stated on my gate and on the walkway that no alcohol or glass is allowed on beach.  It is my job to check coolers and I usually flip it off to the customers by saying " please open your cooler, I have to see if there is anything I want in there"-I get great responses and offers of everything under the sun...and very rarely do I find contraband.  

bgs -- what's your town's total budget for beach maintenance (and workers, basically the total fund supported by badges)?

Someone asked the other day whether cops can legally search coolers and backpacks without probable cause. I don't know. Do you?

If someone came to your gate and refused to open their cooler, could you keep them off the beach?

bgs said:

We do not have rent-a-cops at my boardwalk.  They are for real PPB police officers.  It is stated on my gate and on the walkway that no alcohol or glass is allowed on beach.  It is my job to check coolers and I usually flip it off to the customers by saying " please open your cooler, I have to see if there is anything I want in there"-I get great responses and offers of everything under the sun...and very rarely do I find contraband.  

unicorn33 said:

Someone asked the other day whether cops can legally search coolers and backpacks without probable cause. I don't know. Do you?

If someone came to your gate and refused to open their cooler, could you keep them off the beach?

bgs said:

We do not have rent-a-cops at my boardwalk.  They are for real PPB police officers.  It is stated on my gate and on the walkway that no alcohol or glass is allowed on beach.  It is my job to check coolers and I usually flip it off to the customers by saying " please open your cooler, I have to see if there is anything I want in there"-I get great responses and offers of everything under the sun...and very rarely do I find contraband.  

PP used to have rent-a-cops in the 60's.

My friend was driving an MGb.  Two people in the seats and two hanging off the back ledge. Officer Rent pulls them over....

"Let me see your drivers license."

Pat: "I'm afraid you're in trouble, officer. I left it in my wallet back at the house."

Officer: "Who has a license with them. (Answer, 'Brian.). Ok Brian, you drive, Pat, sit in the passenger seat and the rest of you figure out how you are going to get back."

Officer: To Brian, " Follow me back to headquarters."

Cop goes to the first intersection, puts on directional signal for a right hand turn and turns right. Brian does the same.

Cop goes to second intersection, puts on directional signal for a right hand turn and turns right. Brian does the same.

Cop goes to third intersection, puts on directional signal for a right hand turn and turns right. Brian puts on right hand directional signal, turns left.

A few weeks later, they encounter the cop at the Osprey. They bought him a couple of drinks and he advised that he was fired from his summer job. They had a good time the rest of the evening.

Formerlyjerseyjack said

PP used to have rent-a-cops in the 60's.

This happened to my friend in the early 2000s (2000-2002).  

grocerylist-I work for a privately owned beach in PP.  Everything is paid for by the "owners" of our beach-from the Inlet all the way down just passed the rides.  The owners are responsible for beach maintenance, security, lifeguards, rest rooms and changing rooms/showers.  They also provide showers on the beach to wash off sand....

bgs said:

grocerylist-I work for a privately owned beach in PP.  Everything is paid for by the "owners" of our beach-from the Inlet all the way down just passed the rides.  The owners are responsible for beach maintenance, security, lifeguards, rest rooms and changing rooms/showers.  They also provide showers on the beach to wash off sand....

--- and they do one hell of a great job. 

Also, free fireworks on Thursday nights.

Following up on my post above, When I was a 'ute, several guys from Harrison rented a summer house on Barnegat Bay. This was the time of the folk craze -- Peter, Paul, Kingston --you get the idea. Anyways, I was a fair guitar player and had a better voice. (Both abilities are long gone).

Mr. Jenkinson. owned the beach at that time. As I recall, at that time, '60's, he was also in his '60's and was around 6'5" and thin as the proverbial rail. He set up a wooden platform on the beach and several of my friends and I would meet weekend afternoon and play for an hour or two. We all got free admission to the beach in exchange for our playing. We were written up and photo about us appeared in the Newark Evening News.

Anyways, the guys from Harrison heard me playing and I got free lodging at the summer house in exchange for being the weekend house musician. The weekends would start off with $100. of Rolling Rock "Green Grenades," A.K.A. "Jolly Green Midgets. They would be gone by Sunday afternoon. R.R. doesn't make the grenades anymore. But to give you the idea of the volume, this was the day when you got 10 cent beers at the Rip Tide across from Jenk's. And you could buy 5 cent beers on Market Street in Newark or 25 cent "fishbowl" beers if you were really thirsty. So the Green Grenades fueled a lot of parties and generated many stories such as the one above with Pat and Brian.

OMG Jack!!!  The RipTide!!  Memories!!  I loved that place- in my day it was 15 cent beers and we would stand near some guy who had money on the bar- order a beer and point to his money when the bartender delivered.  We stayed on the corner of Arnold Ave and Ocean at a place called Trento's-it was a guest house-Mrs. Trento charged $4.00 a night and we shared a bathroom with the rest of the girls she would rent to.  So much fun!!!!!

I will get to beach job reporting soon.  

Hopeyou're staying cool and hydrated. Be careful out there

JENKINSON'S Beach at Point Pleasant will be open tomorrow and Sunday for your swimming and sunbathing pleasure. The lifeguards will be on duty and I will be there to take your money which pays for the clean each and our lifeguards! Come on down!