Matt sez, “One of my favorite writers, Caitlin R. Kiernan, was the subject of verbal abuse, profanity and homophobic remarks from some sort of security guard when she and her companion went to visit H.P. Lovecraft’s grave.
The guard attempted to make them delete all of the photographs they had taken, despite the absence of any policy forbidding it.
Are cameras like catnip for abusive, power-mad rent-a-cops now?”
Basic story: Caitlin and her friend have been visiting the grave for a decade or so, paying respects quietly, as do many people. It’s one of the most photographed stones in the world. The graveyard’s policies, listed on its website, do not prohibit photos. The security was incredibly abusive and jerky. Just another skirmish in the war against photography, as the brave security guards of the world prevent the theft of photons from our poor, helpless inanimate objects.
As Spooky was getting into the car, I finally looked him in the eye and said the only thing I said during the entire encounter (which elapsed over the space of maybe three or four minutes, start to finish, at the most). I pointed a finger at the man and, very quietly, I said, “You will be reported.” He screamed, “You do that, you piece of shit!.” This is the only time I got a clear look at the man. He was white, late middle-aged, seemed to have about three-days worth of beard (salt and pepper), and spoke with a heavy regional accent (don’t ask which one). I am fairly certain that he had been drinking, and he may have been intoxicated. He certainly acted like a belligerent drunkard.
“…stains on the carpet and stains on the scenery…”
(Thanks, Matt!)
(Image: H.P. Lovecraft’s grave a Creative Commons Attribution Sharealike photo from StrangeInterlude’s Flickr stream)