Maybe it was aliens!

[friendofjimmyk]

Had the supervisor on duty come over regarding a call from this morning. It seems that the mother of the member could not reach her daughter on her cell phone and started to flip out and called us to get information.

I wish I could've heard this woman, I only heard what the sup told me. Since mom could not get her daughter on the phone - mom was sure - ABSOLUTELY SURE - that our driver abducted her.

I called the driver and he stated that the girl was there, he changed the tire, and when he left the location - she was walking back into the building - the building - her COLLEGE!!! She had to be in class in 10 minutes!!!!!!!! Mom was telling the supervisor that her daughter always has her ringer on and it's just too weird for her daughter not to answer -

If I were that daughter, I'd probably ignore mom's calls too!

[BookstoreEscapee]

Guess it didn't occur to mom that answering the phone in class might be frowned upon by the professor??

[friendofjimmyk]

The sup on duty even mentioned that she could be in class and mom's response was "She always has her ringer on!!"

The thing is - the sups at the fleet's garage do not take these accusations lightly - it has happened on more than one occasion and it's not a funny situation. I was laughing about it, but they weren't. They were really mad when mom did not offer up an apology after we checked out the situation with our driver.

[DesignFox]

It's really not a funny situation, especially for the poor driver. I put myself in his shoes and imagine how appalled I would be. I am sure their supervisors don't want these wild rumors of horrible drivers abducting people's daughters flying around, either. So yes, I can see them being extremely upset at this woman. She should absolutely apologize.

That's just a horrible thing to accuse someone of! Especially when you (should) know your child is most likely in CLASS and should under NO CIRCUMSTANCES have her phone ringer on or be answering her phone!
And professors are not the only people who frown upon that...

[Becks]

I feel sorry for the driver. That was horrible.

On a lesser level, I feel sorry for the daughter, having such a mother. If she were smart, she'd change her cell number and not tell Mommy.

[nick1091]

I just can't believe this woman didn't consider that her daughter might've lost the phone, or the battery went dead. Why in the world would abduction be her first conclusion?

[friendofjimmyk]

Exactly - there could've been no other explanation except abduction!

The sup did state that maybe her daughter was in class - but that was shot down - "Well, she ALWAYS has her ringer on!"

Never mind any kind of logically explanation - just go for the throat!

Another little update - I ran into the sup that was talking to her in our breakroom and he gave me more information. I guess the mother was also asking how well do we know this driver! Asked if we did a background check on him and how long has he been working for us!?

GEEZ lady, step away from the pipe!

[Gurndigarn]

More than one school has started using cell-phone scramblers on premises, FWIW. I always thought that was a logical idea, myself.

[friendofjimmyk]

More than one school has started using cell-phone scramblers on premises, FWIW. I always thought that was a logical idea, myself.

Hmm...that's odd. But, then again, I can see the logic behind it.

[Arachne]

More than one school has started using cell-phone scramblers on premises, FWIW. I always thought that was a logical idea, myself.

I have some trouble believing that. I think that scramblers are actually illegal in a lot of states, because some people need to have some kind of access, for various reasons. What about someone who has a sick relative who could go at any moment, or someone who has a child who could get sick and need their mommy/daddy, etc? These people, obviously, shouldn't have their ringers on and shouldn't be answering their phones in class, but having their phones on vibrate and sitting near the door so they can quietly leave if they need to answer them should be acceptable.

On a lesser level, I feel sorry for the daughter, having such a mother. If she were smart, she'd change her cell number and not tell Mommy.

If she did that, she'd have squad cars pulling up outside her dorm, after her mother called the police to report that her daughter had been raped and left for dead on some deserted road.

[Primer]

What about someone who has a sick relative who could go at any moment, or someone who has a child who could get sick and need their mommy/daddy, etc? These people, obviously, shouldn't have their ringers on and shouldn't be answering their phones in class, but having their phones on vibrate and sitting near the door so they can quietly leave if they need to answer them should be acceptable.

FWIW I ask my students to turn OFF thier cell phones while in class UNLESS they have someone at home that may need to contact them in case of an emergency, then to put it on silent/vibrate and sit near the door. A few professors at my school charge a round of donuts for the whole class if your cell phone rings audibly in class, and a few actually confiscate the phones (I don't know for how long).

I *once* forgot to turn my ringer off, and it rang, so the next class period, *I* brought donuts for everyone!

I would also assume that if the girl did have her phone on silent, she probably looked at the caller ID and declined to answer it during class!

[DesignFox]

That's not a bad deal primer... of course if it had been the rule for any of my classes, some students would be bringing us donuts every class period. Or maybe not if they actually got punished or called out for it. (and I don't mean people who accidentally left their phone on, got embarrassed and turned it off right away- I mean these girls would do this EVERY class period...in addition to other rude horrible things like showing up late, talking through class and showing each other photos!)

I used to get very pissed off at the students who rudely left their phones on, talked or otherwise disrupted class- especially in college. I paid a lot of money to be there. I wanted to learn what my professors had to teach me!