FRC Blogged - FIRST Choice Issue (And Part II)

[Taylor]

I guess I'm an outlier.

I realized that every team was trying to get new "free" items from FIRSTChoice.

We picked some key items we may use, got what we thought was a fair amount (2 batteries, 2 Anderson connectors, 1 classmate, 1 compressor, 2 gearmotors, 2 more gearmotors, 1 compressor, 1 cRIO), and got out of the way.

Knowing that the supply was limited on the items available, and knowing that not all teams had the luxury of having somebody available to log on at 12:01, and I want to make this clear,

the thought never crossed my mind to hoard items, select items intending to resell them for profit, or snatch items away from other teams before they had the chance to get them.

Honestly, I'm having trouble with the notion that fellow FIRSTers would act in such a way. It's appalling.

To borrow a phrase from another well-published mentor, I'd consider somebody who would act like that to be a dishonorable cretin.

Maybe I do have a rose-colored-glasses view of the world; maybe I've read too much into the notion of Gracious Professionalism; maybe I've been wrong all along and there is no room for altruism in FRC.

Maybe it is all about the robots.