Children in the Pits!

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by smurfgirl

I saw someone decked out in team colors, wearing yellow crocs at CT once (before they were banned for safety reasons), but I can't imagine anyone wearing their sandals through the snow. Even if you're in a warm-weather area, how can you expect to get through crowded areas, work in the pit, carry the robot safely, etc. while wearing open-toed shoes? I'm assuming only spectators would be caught like this?

Nope. Students.

Teams can go a long way towards helping their invited guests, whether it be schools, family, friends, etc., know the appropriate footwear for touring the pits. They can take that a step farther and spend time training their members in what is appropriate in the shop and also, what is appropriate when traveling and in the venues. It also is good to know what the venues will and won't allow (as far as food/beverages, etc) in advance, as well. Some of this is discussed in the manual. Teams can always make an effort to educate and inform and not wait until the last minute to figure this stuff out.

edit: Koko Ed is very good at what he does as a volunteer for FRC events. He knows his stuff and if he doesn't, he finds out what he needs to know. Ed, and volunteers like him, wouldn't have to be put in the role of bad cop nearly as much if teams did the work ahead of time and got the word out to their team members and their guests regarding proper attitude and attire, including safety glasses, in the pits. And yes, I can get on a rant about this pretty easily, sorry to hijack the thread topic.