2009 Troy District Event

[Don Wright]

First of all...as mentioned many times before and after, I'm sure...thanks to many of the volunteers running the event. It was awesome...

Just a couple of things that really annoyed me at this event that I hope we can nip in the bud... It has nothing to do with the Troy event, or events in general, but just some behavior from some teams...

1st... This annoying new habit of yelling "ROBOT" or "ROBOT COMING THRU" at the top of your lungs constantly even when nobody is anywhere around you. This was even usually happening with many team members at the same time

This only does two things:

When there really is a reason to move out of the way because you need to get your robot thru, nobody is going to listen because you've been yelling it every 15 minutes and we are learning that you just like hearing your own voice..

And, when other teams are trying to talk in their pit or talk to judges, it is extremely annoying and disruptive for absolutely NO reason.

I completely understand if the pits are packed and there are hundreds of people in the aisles and you need to get thru to do this so you can clear out a way, but we all know this definitely NOT the case at Troy since it was the most spacious pits I can ever remember. And it's not like these robots are driving autonomously thru the pits and halls... I feel more danger at my local grocery store getting hit my a grocery cart...

And 2nd...

To all the overzealous "Safety Captains"... Let's take it down a notch. We all know how to use doors...and look out for people or robots...and we don't need escorts to our pits so we don't get hurt.

I understand you want to win the safety award...but you are going so overboard you are making the safety aspect of the event a joke.