The playground/water park just a few miles from our house is a favorite place to take grandchildren. There are walls to climb, plenty of slides to glide down, lots of swings, and a zip line.
And a big green artificial turf hill. Every since the park opened, families have brought cardboard boxes to slide down the hill on. When you’re done, you leave it for the next child. A constant stream of Amazon boxes to our homes means we never run out of sleds.
And then, after a few hours of watching the kids slide, we noticed this sign.
As I took this picture, the hill was filled with children of all ages, sliding down pieces of cardboard of every shape and size. Kids were seated, on their stomachs, on their knees, and in pairs. All laughed and squealed with delight. Half the fun is then trudging back up the hill for another run. The other half is wearing out the kids so they’ll calm down at home.
Absolutely no one heeded this sign. One mom said, “Are you kidding? That’s all my kids want to do!” Another said, “We don’t have snow. This is what kids can do in Florida!”
So what’s going on here? Are they afraid of an injury lawsuit? Probably. Are they tired of maintaining the hill as the turf wears down? Yep, that too. Did someone get tired of cleaning up some of the cardboard no one took home? Of course.
I know, I’m old. I boast a little too often about riding in the back of a station wagon with no seat belts, riding bikes with no helmets, drinking out of a hose on the side of the house, jumping out of trees, and running with scissors. It’s fun to be a survivor.
I’ve looked around and never seen anyone from the city patrolling or chasing kids off the hill. I doubt anyone comes around until the morning to pick up the trash.
So I’m willing to bet few if any will heed this sign. In fact, it might just disappear one day…
Waite for it... 