We all needed to learn but . . .
When we all started caravanning we all needed to learn quite a lot but IMO some things should be just common sense.
At a recent CL, which has a water tap, EHU and a gridded grey water drain on each and every pitch, we saw something that was quite horrifying. Looking out of the window one morning we saw our next door neighbour, who was evidently leaving that morning, emptying his toilet cassette into the drain on the pitch. By the time I had got out to ask him to stop he had already got the water tap into the outlet spout of the cassette. He seemed not to have a clue that this might be wrong. During the few days he was on site he must have seen people going to the WC emptying point behind the shower block carrying their cassettes back and forth.It happened frequently enough.
The chap told me that they were new to caravanning and this was the first time out with the caravan although his wife told me later that they had only had 'old bangers' of caravans in the past so evidently not completely new to the pastime.
As they packed up everything seemed to be going into the front locker and during our conversation following the toilet incident, he told me he had no idea about nose weight limits for the car or caravan. He hitched up, minus a break away cable being attached, and didn't bother with lights checking before driving off.
The bottom line to this is that as well as a towing course being available for new caravanners there should be more instruction available, whether from the club, a caravan dealer or even a good handbook (apart from the one with the caravan if, indeed, he had one, about actually using a caravan. The club handbook is pretty comprehensive in these matters but perhaps the information should be prominent at the start of the book not towards the back. But, as I said at the start, I believe much of it should be down to common sense and in this case, about personal hygiene and safety of himself and others. I hope the guy learns but learns very quickly.
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Agree with brue. There are some just plain thick/uncaring/beyond common sense individuals out there. You are doing him a courtesy even thinking he might actually be capable of reading. Folks like this occasionally learn, but it usually takes a tragedy for the lesson to sink fully in, and often at the expense of someone else. All you can hope is that it doesn’t involve you or yours.
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I had a 'run in' with an English family camping down in the Lot region in France. They saw no problems with brushing their teeth under the fresh water tap and rinsing their mouth out and spitting afterwards. Made a point of taking a bleach type cleaner every time we filled up with water. Some folk!
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Thank goodness they are in the minority.
Yesterday I returned home from a weekend rally, whilst walking past a caravan next door to mine I could smell gas. At my invitation he opened the gas cupboard door and it was obvious he had a leak which we found very quickly with the help of soapy bubbles. His reply to me was, "no problem, this gas is a lot cheaper because the system is the refillable type" He had no concern for a fire or explosion. D'oh
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do 'other folk' go equipped with 'bleach type cleaner' every time they use the washroom sinks in case 'some folk' have cleaned their teeth there previously?
i can see an issue if someone is sticking a fresh water hose into a toilet cassette, and then someone else filling their fresh water container, but holding a toothbrush under running water? did they put the hose down their throat?
...and spitting.....whilst generally not a nice thing, surely part of the teeth routine but down into the 'tray' and washed away by the running water?
who knows who's 'spat' anywhere on the site or there's been dog mess 'cleared up'.....far more of a Heath hazard in my book.
when strolling round a site do I need a bleach spray used in front of me in case a dog has previously dumped there?
I've no issue with 'cleanliness' but our obsession in avoiding all things 'dirty' is leading to our lack of resistance to such 'dirt'.
it wouldn't have occurred to me that the said 'folk' we're doing anything life threatening....don't VW van campers (and tent folk) do this sort of thing all the time, washing and cleaning teeth in the open air from the nearest tap?
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I suppose we all have differing standards
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Well,well.did they put their mouths over the tap outlet?
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never ever drink bleach it is very bad for you!!!!!!!!
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Many continental sites feel it necessary to put notices on the water taps stating that washing up is not allowed. Don’t recall seeing any forbidding teeth brushing so it must be OK.
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While on a private site in Norfolk, my OH came across someone trying to wash the paper residue from their toilet tank, through a grey water grid. He made it clear to the ‘newbe vanner that it was a practice never to be repeated. Should the site staff have advised him of the proper facility? But on a first trip out, there’s a lot to take in. Hopefully he won’t make the same mistake again.
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