My family wound up in an altercation at the beach. I wondered if we were welcome |
A few years back, my family wound up in an altercation at the beach. It involved two dogs and an unfortunate mishap, and ultimately one dog was injured. For the days after the incident, we tiptoed onto the beach with our dog, aware that she was possibly persona non grata, but we were still shocked when the owner of the other dog tracked us down a few days later and let us have it.
There were a few different factors that led to the exchange, but one comment from the other party has never left me – “Our family has been coming here for generations!” the woman cried. Her argument was, ostensibly, that people like us who regularly holiday at the beach but don’t actually live there are not entitled to the same level of familiarity with the place as people like her, who apparently arrived there on the First Fleet. Even if we own property at the beach, we’ll never be more than holiday ring-ins.
Cabanas and beachgoers at Safety Beach on the Mornington Peninsula.Credit: Joe Armao
It was upsetting at the time, and we had many discussions among ourselves about how unfair it was – but it did make me think, is there perhaps some truth to the sentiment?
Are locals at the coast right to be put out by the........