Drama at DHAR 09-07-12

There was shouting. There was crying. There was local law enforcement. People felt bad.
It was just an accident and nobody was hurt. But let's start where we left off yesterday...

As I said it's hot here. So not many workampers come during the summer. Believe it or not we've arrived at another place where they've just gone through a transition of some sort and all the workampers and employees are relatively new. There are two single women and one couple plus us for a total of 4 rigs. The lady that runs the place (we will call her E) lives off-site and there is one permanent resident who is not a worker. The place has a lot of character; check out these pics!

We haven't counted the animals ourselves but have been told there are 14 dogs. I would guess there are a lot more cats than dogs. We also have peacocks, rabbits, guinea pigs, ring-necked and white doves, miniature chickens (with feathers on their feet), and one rooster (without hens, so he's mean). Cock-a-doodle-doo!

Those are the animals we feed.  Wild critters I've seen include: rabbits, lizards, buzzards, praying mantis, and COCKROACHES! Yuck! We've been told coyotes are roaming around and of course there's always the chance we'll run across a rattle snake. Here's a few pictures of the inhabitants of Birdland.

So, back to the drama...
A workamper from the west coast recently implemented a recycling program. So I gladly took our plastics, paper, bottles and aluminum cans over to the recycle bins and found C&E (one week old newbies) waiting for the newer newbies (M&N) to arrive so they could show them to their site. After we chatted for awhile E called and said it would be another hour and a half before they would be here.

So around 7:00 pm they arrived and the parking process began. C and M checked out the site and I assume discussed how best to get into it. The next thing you know dust was flying and there was a loud crashing noise as the back of their trailer met with the berm. The berm where an electrical panel stood. An electrical panel that was attached to a pole. It didn't blow up but there was damage done to both the panel and the trailer. In an attempt to make a sharp right turn the driver swung wide but didn't allow enough room for the rear of the trailer to pivot to the left...

Everyone was fairly calm while the new guy "M" and his wife checked out the damage, then finished parking and setting up the rig. E was called with the news. Everyone expressed how bad they felt and turned in for the night.

That's not much drama you say? Well you're right! I'm not done. The next morning E, her husband, and the electrician appeared. It wasn't long after that I could over hear some of the exchange between E and M&N. Seems E was willing to cover the damage to the electrical panel but M&N thought she should also cover the damage to their trailer. M&N threatened to sue and it went downhill from there. M started shouting. Apparently even though he was driving he didn't think the accident was his fault because C was helping guide him to the site. Everyone was talking in small groups and at one point it was just Bob and M&N. That was when N started crying. These folks have had a tough time of it and this didn't help matters. (Lost their home, etc)

The sheriff was called in so an accident report could be filed. They also stayed until M&N vacated the property. Because of M&N's reaction to the situation E didn't feel comfortable with moving forward with their workamping contract. I'm glad as it would have been awkward all around.

The next morning a guy showed up looking for the manager. He was from an RV park in town and was looking for information about the accident. What was his motive? Is he just nosy or is there a darker reason?  M&N had gone there and sang the blues. They got an estimate for the trailer repair of ~$4,000. E of C&E put him in touch with E, the lady in charge! He chatted awhile and left.

I hope this isn't one of those situations where the guy (M) shows up with a gun to reap revenge!

Okay. Now that's DRAMA!