Rude security guard ruins perfect afternoon at Hart Park
Written by Jeff on June 2nd, 2008Picture this: It’s 4:45 pm on a warm, lazy Saturday in Hart Park. There’s a slight breeze coming out of the north east that makes the giant oak trees sway gently in the sun-kissed afternoon. Families are everywhere. One is enjoying a picnic. The other has a father playing frisbee with his son. A young couple is reclined on their backs, enjoying paperback novels. Everyone’s having a nice time at one of the best times of the year in Santa Clarita in one of Santa Clarita’s coolest parks.
Then it happens.
A rude security guard in an SUV drives on the pedestrian path leading to the restrooms. He’s honking his horn, shouting at everyone that the park closes in 15 minutes.
Honk! Honk! “We close in 15 minutes, okay?!” he shouts, ruining everyone’s lazy Saturday afternoon.
What the hell?
Everyone is aghast at his behavior - how come he’s shouting at us on this perfect afternoon?!? Yeah we all read the sign that says the park closes at 5pm -an absurd time to close a park on a summer afternoon- we don’t need to hear you honk and shout at us.
A closer inspection of the sign reveals as of November 2004, Hart park officially closes at 5pm, no matter that nature has created the perfect day. Some of the park guests get together to complain about the rude security guard and speculate why the park closes so early.
“I heard it’s because they are afraid of vandals to the house on the hill,” one park patron says, referring to Hart’s Museum/mansion at the top.
“I heard they close it early because the senior center asked them to,” says another.
The website for the park says it doesn’t close until sunset, but 5pm is along way from sunset at this time of the year!
Five minutes later our rude security guard is at again, honking at people, shouting that the park closes in 10 minutes, and driving off to harass other park users.
He totally ruined our peaceful afternoon and I promised my new friends at the park that I’d post here about it, so here it is. If someone from the County is reading this, could you explain why the park closes so early? Could you also train your security guards to not be so rude?
Loading ...
2
PM
Was his name Barney?(sorry to the women readers if the guard is a female)
It appears they need to post an new sign that will not leave the closing time up for interpretation. It’s the Sunset thing that seems to be the problem. Strict hours would still anger the disgruntle! Rather than a horn to notify the laggards, a nice bell or lobby tones may be appropriate.
2
PM
Thanks for posting this Jeff. I have had issue with this for some time now and I have seen these guys in action and I really dislike the fact that the parks close at 5pm but it’s worse these guards are so rude about it.
The parks should close at sun down just like Towsley Canyon. We all pay for those parks big time. We should be able to use them in the day light. That means 8pm right now.
2
PM
And on Monday, June 16 from 7-9 PM, I’ll be leading an “almost” full moon hike at Towsley Canyon. An easy walk, perfect for children.
Bring a flashlight, extra water and wear close toed shoes. We meet at the front parking lot.
2
PM
Was his name Pedro?
2
PM
Bob, if you have ever driven by the park on a weekend, you know the answer to your question!