He called me a "F-ing Idiot
One of the Kent Security guard supervisors in the information booths just challenged me to a fist fight on the street and he called me a
"F-ing idiot." He actually yelled it on the street at the top of his voice as I was walking away. Nice.
He may have had a gun and he was in uniform so I backed down and we just had a yelling match and he called me the name.
What happened was I saw a couple of guys goofing with the two guards in the booth, you can see one here in the blue shirt, the other was on the other side. Because I am a buttinski, and I like to play "stump the info booth person," I walked over.
The guys outside the booth were cracking up. They could not get over that the info booth guys didn't have a clue. They said to me, "Every time I ask these dudes something, they don't know the answer." A Kent supervisor and an employee were manning the booth at the post office location. One more clueless than the other. He said, "I have lived in the Grove eight years, I know every square inch, these guys don't know anything."
So of course, I had to chime in. I asked some questions and of course they grabbed for their ubiquitous map, like a security blanket. They said they were only on the job two days, how were they to know everything. I said, "But you don't know anything!" He replied, "Well I don't live around here -- how do you expect me to know anything?"
Good question. Are we seriously paying people to sit in these booths (two of them now) with their thumbs up their noses? I would like a refund on my City taxes please. I won't pay for this.
Now here comes the funny part. I just got a call from Sylvia. She said, "Tom were you just arguing with one of the new info booth people?" I said, "Yes, how do you know?" She said, "I was just at the booth at CocoWalk and some guy says he got into a yelling match with someone who took his picture and was going on about waste of taxpayer dollars." I just had to laugh. She knows me so well. :)
"F-ing idiot." He actually yelled it on the street at the top of his voice as I was walking away. Nice.
He may have had a gun and he was in uniform so I backed down and we just had a yelling match and he called me the name.
What happened was I saw a couple of guys goofing with the two guards in the booth, you can see one here in the blue shirt, the other was on the other side. Because I am a buttinski, and I like to play "stump the info booth person," I walked over.
The guys outside the booth were cracking up. They could not get over that the info booth guys didn't have a clue. They said to me, "Every time I ask these dudes something, they don't know the answer." A Kent supervisor and an employee were manning the booth at the post office location. One more clueless than the other. He said, "I have lived in the Grove eight years, I know every square inch, these guys don't know anything."
So of course, I had to chime in. I asked some questions and of course they grabbed for their ubiquitous map, like a security blanket. They said they were only on the job two days, how were they to know everything. I said, "But you don't know anything!" He replied, "Well I don't live around here -- how do you expect me to know anything?"
Good question. Are we seriously paying people to sit in these booths (two of them now) with their thumbs up their noses? I would like a refund on my City taxes please. I won't pay for this.
Now here comes the funny part. I just got a call from Sylvia. She said, "Tom were you just arguing with one of the new info booth people?" I said, "Yes, how do you know?" She said, "I was just at the booth at CocoWalk and some guy says he got into a yelling match with someone who took his picture and was going on about waste of taxpayer dollars." I just had to laugh. She knows me so well. :)
posted by Tom Falco at 7:08 PM
YOU MAY NOT LIFT THE PHOTOS & TEXT. IT'S COPYRIGHTED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. YOU CAN HOWEVER SHARE A STORY ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY USING THE LINKS HERE.
For linking to this one story, just click on the time it was posted & just this story will open for sharing - only through social media. Not copying and pasting.
28 Comments:
This saga is going to net you your Pulitzer! My goodness, if you're going to have an info booth, stock it with someone from here.
I remember when 411 calls were first outsourced to out-of-area workers. I used to try to stump them, too, or better yet try to get them to say where they were (strict policy not to).
Those security guards make us look like we live in a police state, like the Grove is a dangerous place to be. Stupid move on the City's part.
yeah everyone! grapevine provoked an $8/hour security guard! why don't you walk over to sarnoffs house and yell at him big guy?
As a grove merchant i like the pseudo security guards. The grove is not safe, as the previous person claims...
As a merchant, you should know that they are scaring tourists (shoppers) away. Looks like we live in Eastern Germany.
AS A MERCHANT I THINK ITS GREAT. ANY THING TO MAKE THE GROVE APPEAR SAFER .THE GROVE IS FULL OF PANHANDLERS BEGGARS AND DERELICTS,,THE GROVE NEEDS TO GO MORE UPSCALE.THESE GUYS ARE NEW LET THEM GET THEIR FEET WET BEFORE YOU ATTACK THEIR KNOWLEDGE WHAT KIND OF IGNORANT BULLY ARE YOU?????????????????????????
I am a taxpayer, not an ignorant bully. I have a right to ask the info booth guy for info. That is all I did. I asked them to do their job.
I dont like them. Too scary looking and unfriendly. Dump the booths.
The booths seem to be the busiest locales in the Grove. I actually see people in them. Very impressive.
Grapevine:
Don't pick on the poor people who have to work in the booths. They just needed a job, any job, and they probably are doing the best they can for their measly pay check.
Go after the idiot who decided to put the booths there in the first place. Did you know that they cost $68,000 EACH?!!!
Do you realize all of the things that we could have done with that money?? How many SERIOUS problems we could have tackled?
The booths are an insult to us, the taxpayers.
Take your questions and complaints to the commissioner. He is one that put them there.
Hold HIM responsible. Get some REAL answers for us Grapevine!
OK.
Personally, I think its pointless to dwell on the shortcomings of the booths and to harass the people who work in them. Instead of provoking those who are working in them and complaining about the downsides of the booths, why not just accept that they are there and look for ways that you can contribute to make them actually serve their purpose?
This blog is quick to point out how there is a strong sense of community in the Grove. Perhaps that can be utilized and some of the individuals who have more free time on their hands could form a grassroots group to approach the city and work alongside these security guards in the booths. Not only would this provide those security guards with someone that is "in the know" concerning the Grove, but it is a great way to keep people active. Potentially, this would turn these "Police state-like" booths into something more positive that holds true to their intent.
Well I nominate Grapevine as first volunteer. See how it feels to sit in that booth, know-it-all. How much time will busy Grapevine give? How much would he have to get paid to make it worth his while? Not 7.85 and hour I bet!
Let's ask the children from the Barnyard program in the Village West to paint the black booths into vibrant works of art!
Actually, the Grapevine IS doing that service: the booth attendants should be creating a list of the questions they couldn't answer, and finding those answers. The City should be monitoring the booths to make sure that the people they've hired to work in them are actually able to provide information in a timely and friendly manner.
The Grapevine's posts should be setting off alarms at City Hall, and whoever's in charge of these booths should be taking action. I have no doubt that if the Grapevine was getting accurate answers, we'd be reading about that, too.
As for all these "anonymous" posts: REAL merchants would be using their names; it's called ADVERTISING. If these so-called merchants were the real deal, they'd be providing links to their websites so everyone could see that they are involved in the community.
Who needs an Information Booth when you have the Grove Grapevine? I'm a tourist visiting the Grove and I can tell you I never even saw the Information Booths and information about what is safe and what isn't is hard to come by. I ended up WALKING to the CVS at 9pm at night.. would have been nice to know my chance of getting MUGGED on the way was quite high BEFORE I did that!
I'm glad to have found this blog.. now I know the REAL story on what to see and do in The Grove and what to avoid. The Chamber should be paying Grapevine for helping tourists out!
Oh..and my two cents about the security guards in CocoWalk area? As a tourist it makes me feel safer to see security guards. I'm a single woman traveling and feel vulnerable when shopping in strange areas, so makes me feel a little bit safer that if I get mugged, there will be someone there to file a report with..lol.. Does anyone know if their presence actually deters crime? Any stats? That would be the ideal result imho.
Real estate agents would gladly volunteer to man the booths for a 3 hour shift, if they were allowed to hand out their business card....The benefit to the community would be the inherent knowledge they possess, and the fact that Realtors thrive on promoting their community.
I and some others did volunteer but were told "no" for some reason, I don't remember why.
I would find it fun, I would probably get many blog stories from the comings and goings in the area and I would enjoy it.
I would blog live from the booth.
Live blogging! That would be priceless. And, I think that a webcam is in order here, as well.
I don't mind security guards, but if you are going to pay people to man booths with the word "Information" emblazoned on them in big letters, then it only makes sense that they should, you know, be able to give out information. Putting incompetent people in those booths just provides another irritant and reason to write off Miami as a Third-World backwater.
I don't care if you're a high-priced mergers and aquisitions attorney of a kid flipping burgers for minimum wage: your customers should expect that you know your job. I think that Grapevine's approach of embarrassing the morons is a perfectly good one.
Grape is the messenger and not to be blamed here, don't blame the messenger. Blame the fools that are running this program, wasting tax payer $$$. Those booths are an eyesore and serve no purpose. One day these numbsculls are really going to send someone to a bad area by mistake and then you'll see how funny this is. The City will be in major lawsuits for years.
Grape:
You probably deserved to be called a F-ing Idiot. Stop harassing these poor, defenseless, insipid, yet innocent people. You've made your point and are now beating a dead horse, and there's no humor, only rancor left.
It's getting redundant, and abusive. Your point (and we all mostly agree with you) has been made, but let's take it to a higher level - and try to actually make some progress on improving the faults of the info booth program.
You should have let him hit you a couple of times, turn around and sue the city, the guard, the company that sub-contract the guards...
That way you could retire to drink iced coffee in the sidewalk cafes and blog away
Missed your chance
I really like this blog, but I can't find any reason to belittle some guy making 6 bucks an hour just because he doesn't know every quarter inch of the Grove. The problem here is the booth, not the poor guy that has to sit there and direct tourists all day (What a thankless job). Your time and energy and should be used more wisely over at city hall.
The booths only serve the purpose of blocking the sidewalks. Pedestrians and bicycle traffic now have another obstacle to avoid.
It's too bad the commissioner found the money for these stupid things and the money to pay security guards, but can't come up with a stop gap measure for St. Albans. Waste of taxpayers money.
I was looking for the post where you had some answers from the commissoner as to why he wasted our hard earded tax payer dollars on this crap. Couldn't get an appointment Grapvine? I will check back next week.
Post a Comment
<< Home