Driving Ban. IT'S AN ANTI-LIBERTY! 'MURCIA~!

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Okay, no super serious but my brain shut down for a good four minutes while trying to process this guy's rant. It's short.

Seriously? It's nice that his CEO was kind enough to tell everyone to stay home, but I know for a fact that there are stores out there that were PO'd when my friends called in saying they couldn't get to work due to said driving ban. There are in fact companies that would try to force their employees to drive through this crap to get to work.

I'm also pretty sure the government has full authority to restrict the movement of citizens during a state of emergency, it's kind of one of the most powerful tools they have to keep everyone safe and resources going toward important things (like plowing/people stuck in their homes/hurt in their homes) rather than having to send people to save the asses of people on the roads who really shouldn't be there.

[Sarah Valentine]

Last year our district manager was in the store to see how we would do during an emergency (lucky us), he was pissed off when he found out people weren't going to show up even though they called in to say exactly why. He said that if both he and the store manager were able to be in the store so should they, he wanted the people who didn't come in to be written up because a couple of snowflakes aren't an excuse. This is also the same asshole that said we don't need 3 days off if someone dies.

[Greenday]

I'm sure this jerkoff complaining about no driving would be the first to expect someone to rescue his ass if he puts himself in a ditch.

[Sarah Valentine]

Ever since he became district manager I've met him about 12 or so times, and he's exactly that kind of asshole. He'd probably rush right behind an ambulance because there's a clear path but I'm pretty sure he's done that already.

[protege]

Seriously? It's nice that his CEO was kind enough to tell everyone to stay home, but I know for a fact that there are stores out there that were PO'd when my friends called in saying they couldn't get to work due to said driving ban. There are in fact companies that would try to force their employees to drive through this crap to get to work.

Yep, I work for a company like that. I've been yelled at for showing up late (or not at all) when the roads are bad. My boss is usually understanding since I live the furthest away--45 minute commute since I live across town. But, if he's not in, his second in command...was an asshole about it. This guy, believes that if he can get to work, everyone else can. Never mind that he had a Jeep and lived less than 5 miles away from the office. Sorry, but fuck that shit. I'm not about to wrap my car around a tree for what I get paid. If I can't get off my street, I'm not coming in. Deal with it.

[Mytical]

Well when I was a security guard I could get away with it even in a state of emergency. 'Essential/Emergency Personnel' can usually avoid a ticket, and I was considered 'Essential'. However, one time I worked at a factory, the same one my mom worked at..they called us to come in..I asked flat out 'If we get fined are you paying the fine?' They said no..I told them to go stuff it. Actually I wasn't that polite about it.

I was even praised (before the new company took over and screwed me over (pardon my french)) because my vehicle was one of the few which had little trouble getting places with over an 1" of ICE on the road (not snow..solid ice). They used my vehicle (and paid me for the use) to go get others who could not make it in.

[Andara Bledin]

It's shit like this that makes me cherish my boss. She's the sort that will be irritated at the lack of people being in, but will also be the first to tell them to stay home because their health/safety is more important than being at work for that day.

^-.-^

[Dreamstalker]

Apparently, our stores were closed for the blizzard of '78, now it's illegal for us to close during a snow emergency...employees might be exempt from the driving ban, but most of the store's staff relies on public transit.

While I do understand not closing (people do need emergency groceries, baby food, etc), I feel like those of us who could walk to work were seriously taken advantage of yesterday. I could barely get out the front door and was 20 minutes 'late' due to fighting through the snowdrifts...as it was, I was the only one there until 2PM who had even remote knowledge of how to run the front end.

[Rageaholic]

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion..._take_hike_gov

Here's a different article that addresses more of the issues.

-Ban is too early.
-A year in jail is disproportionate to the crime.

I think there are better ways to keeping people safe than threatening them with jail.

[TheHuckster]

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion..._take_hike_gov

Here's a different article that addresses more of the issues.

-Ban is too early.
-A year in jail is disproportionate to the crime.

I think there are better ways to keeping people safe than threatening them with jail.

The ban being too early? All forecasts called for the storm beginning earlier than it had, and they had no way of knowing what exact minute the worst of it was going to come. It was supposed to start at around 6am on Friday, but I hadn't seen a flake in RI until closer to 10am. The winds were supposed to pick up around 3-4, but in reality it hadn't until 7 or 8.

As for a year in jail, it seemed to at least do its job with people heeding the warnings. There were barely any traffic accidents or people left stranded in their cars in MA. Perhaps New York should have taken similar measures to prevent having to rescue hundreds of idiots off the Long Island Expressway.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Remember what happened in '78 when we didn't have the forecasting power we do now?

There are plenty of pictures of all the cars that were stranded and stuck on the highways and on other roads because people were driving through the storm.

If they put down the ban at 4pm (with the predictions of the storm truly hitting far earlier than it had), and everyone is aware of it, they can plan their day accordingly to have what they need and then be at home/wherever in time for the ban to hit.

What use is a ban if everyone's stranded on the roads by the time it goes into effect?

What use is a ban if no one knows the ban is in effect because the head hancho waited to see what happened and everyone's out and about when the word is spread?

How much complaining would there have been if there had been a repeat of '78?

Seriously, the government could find a way to turn shit into gold and people would still complain.

[Racket_Man]

welcome to my job during the winter snow season.

Yes we have had snow situations where the local police and fire told people to STAY OFF THE STREETS and they even shut down the bus transit system.

DID that stop my company from requiring me and my fellow pizza delivery drivers from being out on the streets transporting crappy cheesey stuff. HELL NO. THEY wanted the revenue and did not care in the least about our safety or lives.

[HYHYBT]

Seriously, the government could find a way to turn shit into gold and people would still complain.

Well, yeah: miners out of work, gold becoming worthless as money...

[lordlundar]

gold becoming worthless as money...

That's been the case for decades now since the gold standard died off.

[Pixilated]

Back when I was a reporter, a former coworker (who had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about cops in general) got either a ticket or a warning about driving on closed highways during severe winter weather. He wrote an enraged column that sounded very much like this twit's rant.

Well, we worked in a small town and everybody knew who you were. For the next week or so, he couldn't stick his nose out his door without being publicly lambasted by paramedics, firefighters, plow drivers, tow truck drivers (not the police; they had the good sense to shaddup) ... all running on the same theme: "Yeah, that's nice that you have the RIGHT to drive in any kind of weather, but who's gonna come rescue your ass when you end up in a ditch?!"

The following week he wrote another column saying he had reconsidered his original position on the matter.