So I’ll start by saying I absolutely love this park, it’s a great way to get in all kinds of workouts and the pavilion/waterfront makes it a great gathering place for friends and families, not to mention the amazing events they put on throughout the year. I visit often and plan to continue in doing so.

This review is to make Nathan Benderson Park aware of a specific issue/incident, this is worth reading if you ever plan to go to the park in the evening though.

That being said, the other night I was there with a friend later than usual and knowing the gates close around 8 or 9, we parked across the street so we wouldn’t bother the person responsible for closing them, as we weren’t sure we’d be finished with our workout before then.

Around 9:15, as we were close to finishing our workout heading along Cattleman approaching the south corner near the water tower we were accosted by your security guard who’s opening line was “GET THE F@$& OUT OF HERE BEFORE I CALL THE SHERIFF AND HAVE YOUR A$$ES THROWN IN JAIL!!!” Despite his triggering opener I calmly ask him what the issue was and in what way we were breaking the law by being there attempting to inform him of where we were parked and that we were just finishing up and would be gone shortly, instead of listening to a word I was saying he continued to scream (the above line) over my calm words as if it was his life’s slogan. He then continued to berate us with insults full of vulgar language. I finally left him with “I hope you have a good night sir, and God Bless.” We finished our workout with him shining his spot light on us, screaming insults and threats until we were out of his sight.

I am a young professional in the area and an established member of this community, who was born and raised in Sarasota County. I don’t feel I’m entitled to any elevated level of recognition, respect, or treatment because of this, however I would hope this complete departure from any form of common courtesy would bother you as much as it has me.

I have a BS in Psychology: Crisis Counseling and have been specifically trained to keep my cool during stressful or confrontative situations. I would hate to see what kind of conflict could have arose from your representatives inflammatory actions, had it been someone of a similar disposition receiving them. For what it is worth, my opinion is that this security guard is not only a poor representative of your community friendly brand, additionally he is a huge potential liability for you, think of the number of horrendous scenarios that could have taken place. (We were on rollerblades at the time how much of a threat did we really pose to warrant such a hostile interference). I pray you don’t allow them to carry firearms, because I would hate to see what could have happened if I had reacted to his inflammatory/volatile behavior rather than responding calmly and respectfully. Situations like those are what my entitled and lazy generations would call a game-changing lawsuit.

I debated for days whether to contact you about this, I tried calling but your offices are closed, so I decided to write this review to act as a warning to others wishing to enjoy your beautiful park, and to inform you in hopes that you would take necessary steps to ensure no one is treated this way again.