Funny things to ask for on the PA system

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

I feel like asking for funny things on the PA is going out of style. I'm not sure if this is good or bad.

The PA people usually don't like the funny requests, at least in SVR and CVR anyways.

As a freshman last year I was suckered into asking for a flux capacitor. Although I saw Back To The Future a few times already, being new I thought it was a real thing that our team required. Needless to say the PA people weren't very understanding when I had asked.

While funny, the not-so-serious things asked for on the PA system take up time and energy, which could be better used to warn a team of an upcoming match, or of a serious question of another team.

[lauraleeane]

Last year in St. Louis we did:
"Team 771 is looking for (name of a team member). If you see her, please return her to 771"

GTR last year, some team did:
"Team ____ has lost their marbles"
and
"Team ____ is looking for a new robot"

[Slix]

This year at Wisconsin, I asked for the elements of harmony.

Someone else on my team asked for a taser.

[JustinRueb1891]

This year at the Utah regional, I tried asking for a left handed screwdriver, only to find out my mom was the volunteer at the help table... Needless to say, I was unsuccessful in my endeavor.

[Anupam Goli]

The Peachtree pit announcer is a funny guy, he just messes with me by saying that a different team needs the item I'm looking for whenever I show up.

Anyway, someone should be like:
"Team xxxx would like to know if anyone knows when the Narwhal Bacons."

Or
"Team xxxx is looking for Mordor, could anyone help them out?"

[agartner01]

4174 asked for a board stretcher...

[jyh947]

Team 3322 is looking for wire stretchers and reversible zip ties.


Just a side note: reversible zip ties exist.

[tnolan55]

Team xxxx needs ammo for a ak47
team xxxx needs to borrow a working robot
team xxxx needs a sandwich and so does their robot

[Grim Tuesday]

Originally Posted by Wing

The Peachtree pit announcer is a funny guy, he just messes with me by saying that a different team needs the item I'm looking for whenever I show up.

Anyway, someone should be like:
"Team xxxx would like to know if anyone knows when the Narwhal Bacons."

Or
"Team xxxx is looking for Mordor, could anyone help them out?"

I think the best choice of teams to ask for would be 1337. Oh yes, and the Narwhal Bacons at Midnight.

[philso]

At Lone Star 2011, we asked for alcohol. We needed it as a lubricant to get our surgical tubing tire onto the mini-bot. Many of the people in the pits around us did a double take when they heard it. They must have wondered if we had been "driven to drink"

[2185Bilal]

we have tried
"Tom from 2185 is looking for girl-friend

[gracie.]

At buckeye a mentor told me to ask for a metric crescent wrench. i just agreed and ran to the station to ask without thinking it through... then i realized he was referring to adjustable crescent wrenches *facepalm* (you suck, arkady)
some poor fellow didn't get the joke and brought us a set of metric wrenches

[Siri]

Originally Posted by gracie.

At buckeye a mentor told me to ask for a metric crescent wrench. i just agreed and ran to the station to ask without thinking it through... then i realized he was referring to adjustable crescent wrenches *facepalm* (you suck, arkady)
some poor fellow didn't get the joke and brought us a set of metric wrenches

Au contraire, metric Crescent wrenches and adjustable metric wrenches both exist. And they are tres cool.


Note that "Crescent Wrench" has multiple official and colloquial meanings. In US vernacular, "crescent wrench" is actually a generic trademark for adjustable spanner, originating from the Crescent(R) brand of hand tools. However, the brand was not limited to adjustable wrenches, and thus metric Crescent(R) wrenches do exist. In some places a further colloquialism has developed for "crescent" as simply any open-ended wrench. (This seems to be considered incorrect more often that the proprietary eponym version though, I believe). Regardless, industry does make adjustable metric spanners, and the Crescent(R) brand is attached to some metric wrenches. However, I don't think Crescent(R) ever made adjustable metric wrenches (no "metric Crescent crescent wrenches").

[Vermeulen]

Originally Posted by Grim Tuesday

I feel like asking for funny things on the PA is going out of style. I'm not sure if this is good or bad.

My outlook on PA requests is that they're only OK if the Pit Admin is alright with it, and the stress level of the pits is low (For instance, thursday during inspections is definitely not the time to do PA requests). Also, too many requests is just annoying for everyone.

A way PA requests can get a good laugh from people is if other teams join in. At Wisconsin this year, we asked for permission to buzz the tower, which got the other part of the line from another team.

[Gregor]

At GTR west there was an extended knock-knock joke where one team would say, "team xxxx says knock-knock." Another team replies, "team yyyy asks, who's there?" ect.