I love
park rangers. Every park ranger I have met, be they for
state or
national parks, has beem
helpful and
friendly. They invariably are
cheerful and
friendly and glad that you have decided to come visit their
neck of the woods.
Park rangers are people who absolutely love the
outdoors and want you to love it too, and they are convinced that their particular part of the outdoors is the best part. They go out of their way to make sure that you enjoy your chance to get out and commune with
nature. They are
knowledgeable and freely share this knowledge without being
overbearing. They go out of their way to make you feel
welcome and are just all around
good people.
I just went on a backpacking trip in South Carolina, and needless to say, I ran into a number of helpful friendly rangers. After my friends and I were denied a campsite at a private campground on the grounds that we were college students(WTF?!?), we drove to a state park, where a ranger gave us directions to a campsite despite the fact that it was 11:30 and he was obviously on his way to bed, and was extremely helpful. The next day a ranger gave us excellent advice on what trails to take backpacking and gave us a free extra trail map. The day after that a ranger let me in to the ranger station to get some pamphlets even though he had just locked up, and stayed to chat with me about the park and the surrounding area and wildlife.
I like park rangers. I've had nothing but good experiences with them. They are good people and make any trip to the great outdoors a better one. We have secretary's appreciation day and sysadmin appreciation day. Where's the movement for Park Ranger Appreciation Day? It should be a national holiday. Let's hear it for all those great park rangers out there.