She almost ruined a proposal.

[u/mindyour]

This was at Crescent Bay Point Park, which allows people to book it special occasions.

[u/HyenaThen572]

Great.

So she had to be a racist asshole too?

She could've just called the police and moved along with her life.

Weird to defend her.

[u/Crypt0Nihilist → u/HyenaThen572]

We can agree that she didn't have to be a racist asshole. I'll go further and say she shouldn't have been a racist asshole.

She could have called the police and gone on with her life, but that would have been a dick move because whether or not the couple had a permit it would have meant that a police car would rock up and they'd be questioned, which would tarnish the moment.

Why not have a conversation? Why are you so keen to bring the authorities into situations like this which might be resolved by being adult about it?

It's possible to have some sympathy for what someone does while condemning how they do it. Weird you can't see that.

[u/Calembreloque → u/Crypt0Nihilist]

Or, or, hear me out, she could mind her own fucking business. Clearly no one else is using this space. It's a public park. She's not looking to set out a party, she's walking her dog. Why should she a) give a shit, and more importantly b) assume they don't have a permit?

If I see people setting up a block party on my street, even if it inconveniences me, I'm going to assume that they have the permit for it. What a sad world it would be if I acted otherwise, going down the street bothering every paletero, every lemonade stand, every estate sale. I genuinely cannot fathom why would anyone go through life like this.

[u/Crypt0Nihilist → u/Calembreloque]

So you're now jumping from she should have called the police to she should mind her own business. Ok, let's go with that.

Presumably she wanted to walk her dog in the park but felt she couldn't because they had turned it into a set. That makes it her business. She should give a shit because she wants to use it as a public park, but they've turned it into a private set - which is perfectly acceptable if they have a permit, which makes it her business to know whether they do or not.

Maybe you are ok with being inconvenienced, but you don't get to decide that that is the correct course of action for everyone. We have laws and permits to protect people from being inconvenienced because some people are selfish and there are limits on people's rights to be selfish.

No one (except you) is suggesting anyone asks every x, y and z for their permit. We are talking about cases where someone is being inconvenienced. A permit is permission to inconvenience people in a specific way, in a specific place for a specific amount of time. There's nothing wrong with asking whether someone has that permission or asking to see it so you know whether the block party will continue after 9pm if you have kids, or if the people who have paid for the right for exclusive use of the park you want to walk your dog in will be there for another ten minutes or another two hours.

[u/eighty_billion → u/Crypt0Nihilist]

I dunno, she seemed to be walking her dog with no issue. I think probably the biggest interruption was her own when she confronted these folks. 

[u/Calembreloque → u/Crypt0Nihilist]

But my point is it's clearly not inconveniencing her. It's two people with cameras, a tripod and some sort of awning. She's walking her dog. She's clearly not unable to do so, there's nothing stopping her from walking the dog. The Venn diagram of her use of the space and their use of the space is two separate circles - I guess technically they're both on the sidewalk for like 30 seconds together? Is that what constitutes inconvenience warranting the interaction? Did it seem like she was unable to use the park for her purposes?

And she didn't ask "oh, how long are you guys going to be around?" or even "do you have a permit for that?", she started from a position of "you're not allowed to be here, I'm calling the cops". Which was incorrect.

I agree that permits exist for a reason, and that they "privatized" this area of the park. I disagree that mild inconvenience is a good enough threshold to bother people who are planning/running an event like you're Paul Blart Mall Cop, and I disagree that it warrants this level of questioning. When it's 4th of July and my kid is kept awake by the neighbors' fireworks, I'm ticked off, but I still don't go around asking for their permits either because I understand that I may be inconvenienced from time to time, it's part and parcel of living in a community.

Finally, I know you've brushed off the tone and racism of the lady as a separate matter, but I also disagree here. The rudeness and bigotry she exhibits are part of the behavior just as much as the prattling about permits. If I had to guess, the same scenario would have played differently if they were playing Sweet Caroline.

Also I never argued for calling the police, that's a detestable position. That was another commenter. But in all cases, I doubt we'll bridge the gap on that topic so I'm happy to leave it there.