MORE Conversations From the Professional Front Lines

[U.P. Cinnabar]

At my work, recently they got a bug up their nose about deaf people working the equipment. So now I can only drive after the lights go down. It's been waived on occasion when they really needed someone to get something from the overhead, and I could always drive in the receiving area since that's not a customer zone, but it was pretty damn annoying.

You might be able to hit them with the ADA, over that. If you actually care, anyway. Being deaf does not prevent you from getting a driver's license anywhere in the country, so it's pretty clear the government doesn't consider a sense of hearing vital to operating a motor vehicle. That was not always the case, however. The Stand has a deaf character who never learned to drive because, at one time, the deaf were unable to get a driver's license.

It sounds like his jobsite's safety committee decided they needed to, you know, appear to promote safety and otherwise look like they do things other than drink coffee and munch donuts for an hour every couple of weeks.

So, in that spirit, they come up with something that looks like safety, while hindering workers' ability to do their jobs, without promoting any actual safety, since actual safety would interfere with management working their people like the proverbial Hebrew slaves.

[Broomstick]

Arguably, since they won't be distracted by noises in the background, deaf drivers might even be safer than hearing ones.

[Elheru Aran]

At my work, recently they got a bug up their nose about deaf people working the equipment. So now I can only drive after the lights go down. It's been waived on occasion when they really needed someone to get something from the overhead, and I could always drive in the receiving area since that's not a customer zone, but it was pretty damn annoying.

You might be able to hit them with the ADA, over that. If you actually care, anyway. Being deaf does not prevent you from getting a driver's license anywhere in the country, so it's pretty clear the government doesn't consider a sense of hearing vital to operating a motor vehicle. That was not always the case, however. The Stand has a deaf character who never learned to drive because, at one time, the deaf were unable to get a driver's license.

It sounds like his jobsite's safety committee decided they needed to, you know, appear to promote safety and otherwise look like they do things other than drink coffee and munch donuts for an hour every couple of weeks.

So, in that spirit, they come up with something that looks like safety, while hindering workers' ability to do their jobs, without promoting any actual safety, since actual safety would interfere with management working their people like the proverbial Hebrew slaves.

More or less the general conclusion here. I don't care enough to complain *that* much, as it didn't fuck with my own work all that much-- I'm only on the floor during open hours for maybe a hour or two, max. The rest of my shift the store is going to be closed.

For another employee though (also deaf... for some reason HD has a decent number of deaf employees), it was rather more of an impact. He'd been with the company, what, seven or eight years, and was currently working as an order puller in the Lumber and Building Materials department, so lots of forklift work to pull down bundled lumber, build pallets, and all that. They yanked him, stuck him on a cash register for a few months, and then stuck him in my department (Night Freight). Understandably, he was not pleased.

[Elheru Aran]

Arguably, since they won't be distracted by noises in the background, deaf drivers might even be safer than hearing ones.

Amusingly, the excuse given was "well you can't hear the various alarms and such going on that the machine is giving forth", "you might not hear a customer behind you", and so forth...

[Broomstick]

Funny, any time forklift safety has come up I've always heard don't rely on your hearing, turn around and look, or use the mirrors to look behind you. Hearing is not as reliable as sight in that situation.

[Zeropoint]

I'm trying to think of how useful my sense of hearing has been in my driving . . . really not coming up with much. Sometimes it lets me know that an emergency vehicle is coming several seconds before I can see the lights. A few times, it's alerted me to the presence of a motorcycle I might otherwise have missed (especially in the Tahoe I got recently when my Forester died (RIP, Clayton. You deserved a better owner than me), which has kind of poor visibility). There's the sound of running over the various lane indicators, but you can also feel those.

Overall, I don't think my sense of hearing contributes meaningfully to my ability to drive safely.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Funny, any time forklift safety has come up I've always heard don't rely on your hearing, turn around and look, or use the mirrors to look behind you. Hearing is not as reliable as sight in that situation.

Also, people passing near the lift are supposed to make themselves known/visible to the driver, and keep themselves visible until they're past the lift.

Of course, that doesn't apply to customers, because they don't work there, and are all entitled dickbags anyway.

Amusingly, the excuse given was "well you can't hear the various alarms and such going on that the machine is giving forth", "you might not hear a customer behind you", and so forth...

Yup, safety team logic strikes again. I hate it like hell for your co-worker. I'd suggest he file an ADA complaint with the EEOC(after going through the reasonable accomodation BS with the Personnel bunny, of course), but, this is Georgia we're talking about.

(I often wonder if the British got the better end of the deal, back in 1783)

[Elheru Aran]

The sirens are probably the biggest thing I miss. And, obviously, you're not going to see the lights until they're closer.

Apart from that, yeah, I don't think I miss much of anything. If you can keep your head on a swivel and *notice* things that are close to your vehicle, and have sufficient experience to assess hazards and prioritize avoidance, you're fine without hearing. I've been driving for ~10 years now and the only two accidents I've ever been into, one was a T-bone that I couldn't see coming (left turns across a four-lane suck, by the way) and the other was my own bloody fault for not watching where I was going (fender-bender). Hearing wouldn't have helped in either case.

Funny, any time forklift safety has come up I've always heard don't rely on your hearing, turn around and look, or use the mirrors to look behind you. Hearing is not as reliable as sight in that situation.

Also, people passing near the lift are supposed to make themselves known/visible to the driver, and keep themselves visible until they're past the lift.

Of course, that doesn't apply to customers, because they don't work there, and are all entitled dickbags anyway.

That's pretty much the situation. Associates are supposed to move out of the way, driver is supposed to keep 'zone of safety' (4ft to each side, 10ft in direction of travel' and never drive during hours without a spotter.

How well this is adhered to generally depends on how intelligent the associates are, whether the driver is a stickler for the rules, and how dumb the customers are...

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Speaking strictly for myself, I am a stickler for the safety rules on or off the lift, out of enlightened self-interest, i.e., I'd like to not come home from work in a box, and running over co-workers is too goddamn much paperwork .

And, not all of my interactions with, or actually being on, the company safety team have been negative. I can actually name one positive thing Unarco's safety committee did during my time on it, even if that one thing took a whole lotta to get done.

(got the basement cleaned out and turned into a tornado shelter)

[Zaune]

Of course, that doesn't apply to customers, because they don't work there, and are all entitled dickbags anyway.

Honestly, if you've got members of the public wandering around unsupervised in areas where forklifts are operating, a deaf employee driving one of said forklifts is the least of your worries. I don't think you're even allowed to do that in this country.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Honestly, if you've got members of the public wandering around unsupervised in areas where forklifts are operating, a deaf employee driving one of said forklifts is the least of your worries. I don't think you're even allowed to do that in this country.

And, it wouldn't be allowed in this country, were it not for 24/7 customer demand, and the feel of buying direct from the warehouse/factory that big-box stores try to emulate for...reasons.

[Broomstick]

Makes me glad that, even if we do run 24/7 at my store, we don't run the lifts out where the customers are, except for the garden center and gas station where the staff are allowed to limit using them to the early morning hours with few people.

[Raw Shark]

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: Yeah, I just moved here a month ago.

YOUR DRIVER: Welcome to the neighborhood! I live a couple of blocks away, and I love it here. Where are you from?

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: Originally West Virginia, but I've been backpacking around Colombia for the past year.

YOUR DRIVER: Wow. So what are you doing here?

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: Living with my sister and looking for a job, right now.

YOUR DRIVER: You should apply at Trader Joe's. They've been hiring for a month, and you're even closer to them than I am.

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: Yeah... they don't like me very much.

YOUR DRIVER: Why not?

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: Have you ever been dumpster-diving?

YOUR DRIVER: Can't say that I have...

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: You should do it there if you're hard-up for food. They throw away the best shit. I got like five pounds of smoked salmon last time, still in the vacuum-sealed plastic. It was marked as expired that day, but that stuff lasts a really long time and is totally delicious. I still have some in the fridge.

YOUR DRIVER: Huh. So they object to that?

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: Yeah, somebody from the store will come out and yell at me sometimes. They tell me to go away, get a job, the usual routine. I don't know why they have a problem with it.

YOUR DRIVER: Maybe they're jealous. Somewhere in the backs of their heads, they're worried that you've got it all figured out and they're wasting their lives doing it wrong for a paycheck.

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: Probably. That shit would've just ended up in a landfill if me and Big Sis didn't eat it.

YOUR DRIVER: You're saving the planet. Does your sister know where it came from?

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: I told her I bought it with money I made busking. She's not as open-minded about this stuff as I am. Hey, do you want to come with me next time?

YOUR DRIVER: Are you asking me out on a garbage-scavenging date?

HOT HIPPIE GIRL: Yes I am. Are you in?

YOUR DRIVER: This ought to be interesting. Let me give you my number...

[U.P. Cinnabar]

For everything there is a first time.

But, goddamn, Shark.

Trader Joe's objects to a jobless person dumpster-diving for food they were just going to let go to waste anyway. I thought TJ's was supposed to be hippie-consumerist heaven...oh, wait, shit, that actually makes sense now, doesn't it?

[Raw Shark]

But, goddamn, Shark.

I'm not really hard-up for food (I've actually been eating way too much since I cut out all the calories from alcohol two weeks ago), I'm just taking any excuse to make time with this girl because she's pretty and funny, and lives three blocks away from me. I've already got a line about how we should shower together to save water afterwards locked and loaded.

Trader Joe's objects to a jobless person dumpster-diving for food they were just going to let go to waste anyway. I thought TJ's was supposed to be hippie-consumerist heaven...oh, wait, shit, that actually makes sense now, doesn't it?

This may just be my neighborhood, but most of the people I see when I shop there seem like stuck-up yuppies. TJ's probably thinks having people rooting around in their trash presents the wrong image for that crowd. On the other hand, if they really had a problem with it, padlocks are not very expensive.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

'm not actually hard-up for food (I've actually been eating way too much since I cut out all the calories from alcohol two weeks ago), I'm just taking any excuse to make time with this girl because she's pretty and funny. I've already got a line about how we should shower together to save water afterwards locked and loaded.

That's actually what I meant. And, somehow, I expected you to have the shower line ready to go. Good luck, brother.

This may just be my neighborhood, but most of the people I see when I shop there seem like stuck-up yuppies. TJ's probably thinks having people rooting around in their trash presents the wrong image for that crowd. On the other hand, if they really had a problem with it, padlocks are not very expensive.

Nope. That seems to be the case with every TJ's that I've visited so far. And, being trailed through the aisles of the TJ's on Peoria by someone trying hard not to look like security, but who actually is, simply because my threads aren't expensive enough is, in no way, influencing my opinion....

[Raw Shark]

I expected you to have the shower line ready to go. Good luck, brother.

Thanks! I shall do my best, as always. It's good to have a mission in life, even if it's not especially beneficial to more than one other person at a time. It gives me a sense of purpose.

Nope. That seems to be the case with every TJ's that I've visited so far. And, being trailed through the aisles of the TJ's on Peoria by someone trying hard not to look like security, but who actually is, simply because my threads aren't expensive enough is, in no way, influencing my opinion....

I've never had a problem there, despite usually showing up in what I call my, "work costume," which is in other words my, "raggedy-ass homeless person; my shit has more holes than yours; you're just practicing if you mug me," costume. I'm guessing that they take how much money I spend there into account more than my appearance.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I've never had a problem there, despite usually showing up in what I call my, "work costume," which is in other words my, "raggedy-ass homeless person; my shit has more holes than yours; you're just practicing if you mug me," costume. I'm guessing that they take how much money I spend there into account more than my appearance.

That's just it. I showed up in my nice clothes(was on my way back from Coffeyville, and had some time before I had to do an assist at the Tulsa yard), hair combed, and clean-shaven, and that happened. Honestly, WTF; I realize I can barely afford to buy clothes from Kmart(fuck buying any non-underwear/sock type clothes at Walmart), and, maybe JCPenney from time to time, while most of your customers wear socks that cost more than my car. but damn, I've got money; I can buy things without stealing(though I have dived my share of dumpsters, when the paycheck didn't stretch quite far enough), and, if I can't, I don't go shopping, that simple.

Or, maybe dude just got it in his head that he didn't like me. That happens too.

[LaCroix]

TJ's probably thinks having people rooting around in their trash presents the wrong image for that crowd. On the other hand, if they really had a problem with it, padlocks are not very expensive.

It's about insurance - if somebody gets hurt on ther property, and they did allow them to be there, they would be liable. That's why it's forbiddne here, in Europe - in SueHappytm USA, that should be even worse. By yelling at you to get lost, they fulfill the obligation to the point of plausible deniability.

[Napoleon the Clown]

And, being trailed through the aisles of the TJ's on Peoria by someone trying hard not to look like security, but who actually is, simply because my threads aren't expensive enough is, in no way, influencing my opinion....

Out of sheer spite, I'd wander aimlessly for something like an hour looking over all kinds of stuff, picking up the occasional thing I actually want to buy but first thoroughly examining everything about it.

And maybe ask "Not" Security questions of the most inane variety.

[FaxModem1]

Supervisor: So, when our contact information gets outdated, that's where you come in.

Me: How so?

Supervisor: You use your excellent google skills to track them down and find what contact information you can about them.

Me: So, is that my most marketable asset, the fact that I can google?

Supervisor: Yep

[Lagmonster]

Office noise: "CRASH"
Me: (poking head in) "What is going on?"
Hymenoptera collection curator: "...dropped the slurry." (sealed glass vials filled with hundreds of dead bugs and a preserving fluid)
Me: "..."
Hymenoptera collection curator: "...except that part. That's mayo and mustard from my lunch."
Hymenoptera collection curator's assistant: "This is why you're single. You know that, right?"
Hymenoptera collection curator: (oblivious) "Mayo and mustard isn't unattractive."

[Alyrium Denryle]

Office noise: "CRASH"
Me: (poking head in) "What is going on?"
Hymenoptera collection curator: "...dropped the slurry." (sealed glass vials filled with hundreds of dead bugs and a preserving fluid)
Me: "..."
Hymenoptera collection curator: "...except that part. That's mayo and mustard from my lunch."
Hymenoptera collection curator's assistant: "This is why you're single. You know that, right?"
Hymenoptera collection curator: (oblivious) "Mayo and mustard isn't unattractive."

Oh god, I hope that never happens with my dragonfly nymph collection.

[Lagmonster]

These were samples from...I think...the low Tatras. They set up collections for every ten metres of altitude and just shipped everything they caught in what can only be described as something truly horrible to look at. The curator was thrilled. Apparently the range of differences in samples for such a small change in location was "astounding" and meriting a fifteen minute monologue. This is *also* why he's single.

[Zeropoint]

God forbid someone should like something.