Petition to end the shouting of ROBOT

[Libby K]

I apologize for bumping this thread and probably starting another circular discussion, but here goes.

This weekend was my first gig at my new job - representing United Therapeutics as a sponsor of teams. I traveled to the Orlando Regional with some coworkers (and my boss!) to see our sponsored teams play, and to give our FL employees a chance to see FIRST up close so they could get connected with the program.

We were walking through the pit, excited to meet one of our "Team UniTher" teams up close, and a volunteer yelled robot, right in our ears. Okay, one bad apple shouldn't spoil the bunch, right?

It was an absolute epidemic. Every time someone's robot was on a cart I could hear students screaming. Not even in the "pardon me, robot coming through!" way. These students were outright rude, and absolutely not at all self-aware about how unnecessary it was. I've (unfortunately) become pretty immune to the senseless yelling, but my coworkers were certainly not.

It was a really quick way of alienating potential volunteers, mentors, and sponsors. I came in with enthusiastic people, and they left the pit with a bad taste in their mouth. It's one thing to have a safe aisleway to move your robot, but entirely another to be so obnoxious that you alienate spectators who, minutes earlier, were jumping out of their seats to go see the robots up close.

I'm not trying to knock this one regional in particular, or its teams, because we had a fantastic time overall - but it was the first time I've really noticed how off-putting it is to those who don't just blindly accept safety theater as safety culture.

Again, stop yelling robot. A simple "Excuse me, heads up, robot coming through" in an indoor voice will suffice. Your robot is not more important than the humans in the room.