I feel the need to share an experience my family and I had
today. After a long Thanksgiving weekend
we decided that we would like to take a few photos in a beautiful setting of my
grandmothers with their grandchildren and great grandchildren. Both ladies are in their mid-eighties and we
wanted to take the opportunity to document a great holiday. We proceeded to go to East End Park to enjoy
the beautiful afternoon and snap a few pictures. My sister in law is by no means a professional
photographer (in fact she is an attorney) but she has a decent camera and said
she would bring it along. I reviewed the
article about the new rules at the park and it said that Kingwood residents
should feel free to use the park for photography as long as it does not disturb
the park and are not “for profit” photography.
We brought 2 small chairs so that the grandmothers could sit comfortably
without taking up benches in the park that others were using. Not long after we arrived we noticed a man taking
photos of us on his cell phone. Having
my young children with me, I was very concerned that someone was taking photos
of my children without my permission and we confronted the man. He became very hostile and told us that we
were not allowed to take photos there. He
proceeded to cuss at my husband, father, and brother and even got in my mother’s
face (we have a picture of this). I explained that we were not professionals
and just taking photos of our family-by a family member. I asked him to erase the pictures of my
children from his phone and he refused.
At that point I became really upset as did the rest of my family. I understand that he was probably someone
concerned about people following the new rules of the park but how am I to know
that he is not a pedophile taking children’s photos in the park with ill
intentions? We followed him out of the
park as he walked away still refusing to erase the photos. The police were called and they were very
kind and helpful but the situation, which was completely avoidable, ruined my families’
afternoon. We later found out that this
man was or is a part of the HOA.
I understand the new rule implemented at the park but feel
like some are taking it too far. We were
simply trying to take photos of grandmothers with their great grandchildren in
a park meant to be utilized by Kingwood residents. My family has lived in Kingwood for over 20
years and have every right to be there. I
encourage the man who we encountered today to think twice before he tries to enforce
this rule himself again. Taking pictures
of someone’s children without the parents’ permission is unacceptable no matter
what the circumstances.
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