When SCs should never drive.......

[ArenaBoy]

This is a good one folks, reasons as to why SCs should not be allowed to drive. We have our own building where we take breaks and punch in at, rather than at the arena. The building is very hard to find on the road because it's hidden from view, you have to turn left in order to get in. I've missed the turn quite a few times. On to my story. As usual, it was a basketball game and it was BUSY like usual. I am stuck in the suite lot for the 50th time and I had a radio on me. Things were boring on the radio until I hear: "Will the MOD please come up to the building, we have a situation." The MOD is a very cool person and it takes a lot to get him angry, customer or employee. He asks what is going on and the person on the other end says "Well, someone drove into our building." The MOD jumped into his truck and drove up there. There was a look of fury on his face. Apparantly, an SC took a wrong turn into the building and wasn't paying attention and he hit the building. There wasn't any major damage done to the building but he got his head chewed by our MOD.

[ChanceNCinny]

I got three, all about seniors who frequent my work (not picking on seniors thats just who the stories are about):

1) Cops come walking into the building a little after a popular senior exercise class started. Asks if a Mr. Bad Driver (not really a bad customer just a bad driver) is around. I say yes hes down the hall and describe him for the cop. Down the cop goes coming back with Mr. Bad Driver and asks for a room for them to talk in. After talking the cop leaves. Then Mr. Bad Driver comes out and asks us to call his son so his son and daughter-in-law to come get him and his car. Apparently what had happend was Mr. Bad Driver was driving hit another car and somehow didn't even notice (the other car couldn't open the door on the side hit, so it wasn't just a light hit ). The other driver got his license plate and called the cops, who called his wife who said he was at our place and thats how the cops knew where he was. Since it was the third time in two months that had happend he got his license yanked and the cop who had talked to him recommended he not drive home.

2) Next is a man we will call "Evil Old Man". He comes in everyday and walks on the treadmill. Always gives the staff a hard time and is a general pain in the arse. He has a wheelchair that he uses to get around but somehow he gets himself up to walk on the treadmill at its lowest speed, leaning heavily on the support bars. He can't stand up straight and probably sees nothing more then his feet when standing up. His driving was down right scary. Coming in the wrong way, parking half-way into the spot next to his, almost hitting a couple people backing up and practically knocking over the handicap parking sign. The couple times I paid attention to him when he was driving it looked like he would glance up and down as he drove, so his attention wasn't even on the road the whole time. His license also was yanked.

3) Mary. pages could be devoted to the craziness that is Mary. I won't even get started. Her driving story though is her coming in one day yelling about how the stupid police officer gave her a ticket. She ranted and raved for a while before telling us why she got the ticket. The reason? Making a right hand turn from the left turn lane . She also complained that a "moron" almost hit her and he should have gotten the ticket not her. She still has her license and I cringe at the thought.

[Pagan]

I've got one. It doesn't involve an SC at work, but I can guess by her behavior that she would be one. I was coming home from work, sitting at an intersection waiting for the light to change, she's in a huge mini-van/SUV thing. We're about 6 or 7 cars back. Well, the light turned green and almost immediately, she starts blowin' her horn at the people in front of her! Well, we finally get moving and she gets enough ahead of me and she's got a vanity plate. It says, "I EDUC8". Ooh, boy! (If your a teacher or know one, please don't take offense. For some reason, we seem to have the most problems with teachers at work!) Then I pull up even with her and look over, just out of curiousity, to see what kind of boob she is. She looks over, too, and has the nastiest expression on her face! Lovely. Now she proceeds to drive the rest of the way down the road at 35mph, the speed limit on this street is 45mph. If she was in such a hurry, what with the horn blowing, why's she takin' her time now? Oh, almost forgot about the changing out of the left-turn lane to the straight through lane, without a signal and looking. If you're going to do stuff like that, don't have a vanity plate! She's probably is clueless to the fact that she's the only one in the state with this plate. I'm just glad I will probably never have to deal with her at work!

[protege]

Geez...and I thought I had it bad where I used to work. Shortly after I started working there...some idiot hit the *building* not too far from where the office was All I heard was a loud boom. Like most people, the driver came flying down the hill trying to make the green light at the intersection. But, unlike most people, he somehow lost control of the car, jumped the curb, bounced over the sidewalk, and plowed into the building's corner The building just had some minor damage, but the car was totaled. From what I could see, the driver left the scene in an ambulance.

[Becks]

I might have mentioned this story before.

I'll try to make it short.

One fine, sunny Monday afternoon, I get to work and see half the store standing outside, looking at the parking lot. I turn around, and what do I see? A car that had hit another car. What's so special about that, you ask? The old lady thought she had her car in drive, but it was actually in reverse. She slammed on the gas, going who knows how fast across an exit lane, and ended up slamming into a car at least six feet away. The funniest part? She also took the handicapped parking sign that's encased in cement with her.

[trunks2k]

The store I used to work at years ago was in a town with a very high percentage of retired people. This made the parking lot a very dangerous place.

At least one pedestrian got hit while crossing the parking lot into our store.

One old lady hit the gas, instead of the break, and somehow managed to manuever the car through the pillars in front of the entrance and crash through the main entrance. People had to come in and out through the emergency exit for a few days after that one.

One old man was driving too fast through the parking lot, hit a patch of ice, and slammed into the wall of our store. Thankfully, he hit the wall where the bank vault is, so he didn't come crashing entirely through the wall.

[wj_737_700]

All of this talk about old drivers make me think of the Southpark episode when the old people get their licences taken away...than started an AARP war

[Ryu]

close all (old time?) country buffets! we'll starve em!

[Brighid45]

Good one Ryu!

A couple of years ago we had a rash of old ladies ramming their cars through storefront windows. One of the local florists got nailed, then it was a WaWa (a local c-store chain).

[wagegoth]

Years ago, when still working retail, I worked in a city with a large, upper-income, retirement town nearby. Those were the days of the "retirement car." The retirement car would be the last car people would purchase before retiring. It was inevitably the largest car made by the manufacturer. In this town, it was usually a Mercedes or a Cadillac.

The problem arose when the husbands would die within a year or two, but always before the wife, after retiring. It's not so common now, but, at that time, many of these women had never driven more than a mile or two at a time to the local store. The husbands did all the driving. This resulted in a large population of widows driving huge, overpowered cars around a busy city, with only minimal or no driving experience.

I expected that at least once on my way to work I would have a near-accident. This was guaranteed. The most common was having one of them change lanes without looking or signaling. Second was slamming on the brakes in traffic because they got lost or didn't recognize the surroundings. Third was driving through red lights.

A friend I had from Phoenix had exactly the same stories from growing up there, except that she actually did get hit by one of the widows, who changed lanes without looking.

I was so thankful that my grandmother had enough sense (and family nearby willing to chauffeur her) to give up driving.

[Amalthea]

My SC driving story? Had a customer hit my car in the parking lot while I was at work. Thank goodness another customer witnessed it and took the lady's info down. Because the SC hit my car hard enough to make a very large dent right above my right front tire (made my car undriveable, even). She had her son get out of the car, check her car for damage, and then jump back in and they drove away. Luckily, though, as I said, another customer saw it, and got the lady's info. Boy, what I'd give to have seen her face when the police officer showed up on her door.

And a quick related bit. So I left my car in the parking lot cuz I couldn't drive it. The next morning there was a notice from Security, No Overnight Parking. (I hadn't even thought about it). So I called Security, told them it had been hit and was undriveable, and asked if I could leave it another night or two till I got the lady's info and found out where to tow it. They said, no problem. So the next morning, no notice. The morning after that, though, I got another notice for No Overnight Parking. Apparently "a night or two" = 1 night and then we yell at you again.

[Tanasi]

When I was a kid working in a grocery store I had my car hit two different times. The first time the guy hit it, checked his car for damage and then left. One of my cow-ikers got his tag and I ran it and it was a state trooper from the next city over. He denied having done it and when I mentioned I had witnesses he threatened me. I decided it was better to let it go, since the damage was minimal. The next time a guy that didn't have two dollars to rub together hit my car and came in looking for me. He appoligized and offered to pay. He had busted some cheap fog-lights I had on it and I told him not to worry. He looked like it was all he could do to feed his family. I can only hope karma repayed both as they deserved.

[protege]

Years ago, when still working retail, I worked in a city with a large, upper-income, retirement town nearby. Those were the days of the "retirement car." The retirement car would be the last car people would purchase before retiring. It was inevitably the largest car made by the manufacturer. In this town, it was usually a Mercedes or a Cadillac.

Around here, big Buicks, Lincolns, and yes, Caddys seem to be pretty common among the retired set. You can always tell, since they're usually spotless, and moving at speeds well under the rest of traffic

When my grandfather died in '89, Grandma was left with a rather large car. He'd bought a brand-new 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 four-door sedan...which was a bit too much car for her. She didn't like how it handled on the highway (it rode well, but floated all over the place), or just how big the car was--it was one of the last big rear-wheel-drive sedans from GM. So, it had to go....and was traded in on a new '91 Olds. That got totaled about 3 years later when some idiot hit her.

I still can't see what the appeal is of those larger cars. Years ago, I know that a big car was a sign of "you've made it." But now, that's no longer the case. All too often, I see many people (not just the old folks!) who buy cars, and can't handle them. I've seen people back their new minivans into light poles simply because they don't realize just how much bigger a minivan is than a normal car.

I learned to drive on a minivan, simply because it was the only car available then. Even if I hadn't, I would have tried the car out in a parking lot or on deserted roads to get a "feel" for it. From what I remember, is that the steering was set up differently from a normal car.

OK, now that I've bored you all to tears...I'll shut up now

[Becks]

And a quick related bit. So I left my car in the parking lot cuz I couldn't drive it. The next morning there was a notice from Security, No Overnight Parking. (I hadn't even thought about it). So I called Security, told them it had been hit and was undriveable, and asked if I could leave it another night or two till I got the lady's info and found out where to tow it. They said, no problem. So the next morning, no notice. The morning after that, though, I got another notice for No Overnight Parking. Apparently "a night or two" = 1 night and then we yell at you again.

Amalthea, maybe there are different people working security, and not all of them got the memo? That would be a reason...

[Dreamstalker]

My grandmother's huge Buick is still in the garage. Fairly spotless, except for various critters nesting under the hood. She claims she can still drive (er, no you can't. The last time I went in the car with you ten years ago, you ran two red lights on the busiest road in the state and almost got us broadsided by a bus). I don't think we're ever going to be able to sell that thing as nowadays there's nowhere one can park something like that.

In contrast, my grandfather had (it's still in the driveway) a bitty Ford Tempo. Nice car, it was what he needed to get around/take me to the library and nothing more. My mom is giving it to the neighbors who have been wonderful with mowing the lawn, trimming bushes, etc.

I still remain convinced that after a certain age, you must retake the actual driving test (in addition to the eye exam and written) every year.