Entitlement / Respect

Ron Strasser

2017-11-22

Old man perspective here.
I believe the reason many choose to disregard rules regarding the Pit,
course crossing, illegal pre-riding is most often being self centered.
People (even old people like me) think they are not causing a problem
because from their point of view there is no problem. That for the most
part is the problem!
"It is just about me" has been around since people have been here. But my
generation (and all you younger folks) are post WWII which was the last time
our society had to make serious life impacting sacrifices. It has not been
all smooth sailing since, but for the most part, we pretty much get what we
want....thus we feel entitled. Caring about others and rules is something
people do more often because it is convenient instead of a part of their
fiber. This is our culture. I am as guilty as the next person.
Another important part of this conversation is lack of knowledge. There are
people who have no clue about the concept of what a Pit is, crossing the
course whenever they want or even pre-riding. Some of that is just
"ignorance of the rules". Throw in the "I do what I want" with the
ignorance and someone is stepping out in front of racers the next thing you
know. I am not just talking about young kids here. Nor was Jordan.
My experience with our officials (even when I have done a bad) has always
been positive yet firm direction from them. It would be much smoother if
people just did what the official asks, directs or suggests. That will
always be the individuals call on reaction to the official. This behavior
will never vanish.
What can we do?
There is already a ton of stuff that needs to be set up for a race venue and
I do not want to add to that load, but maybe OBRA printing off some
waterproof venue posters that could be mounted near registration and where
results are posted (people gather here). Maybe even a sign with Pit rules
at each entry to it. How about some info. on the registration site...and
require that promoters using other reg. sites include the info. Have it be
importable to that site. I know this would be more time at front and end of
event. The more rules "face time" people (racers and spectators) are
presented with, result in more understanding and compliance with these
rules. More people might understand their purpose.
ron

-----Original Message-----
From: Jordan Staples via OBRA
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2017 12:48 PM
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Entitlement / Respect

John,

To be fair the job is compensated but at the end of the day it really does
not equate to much but it is based on us volunteering for the jobs. Without
the racers there would be no race to promote but its like wise for the
officials who need to run the event.

Jordan
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Jordan Staples

2017-11-21

John,

To be fair the job is compensated but at the end of the day it really does not equate to much but it is based on us volunteering for the jobs. Without the racers there would be no race to promote but its like wise for the officials who need to run the event.

Jordan


John Wilger

2017-11-21

It's not our VOLUNTEER officials' job to teach people how to have a basic
level of human decency. What he's asking for is a pretty damned low bar.
Jordan's point is that a lot of people will choose not to volunteer rather
than take that on in addition to all the other stuff they are doing for you
FOR FREE. No volunteers, no races.

On Tue, Nov 21, 2017 at 9:22 AM, Manville via OBRA
wrote:

> The tone of this post says it all... Try being a teacher versus being an
> authority. -- Manville
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John Wilger | +1 (971) 678-0999 | http://johnwilger.com


Mike Murray

2017-11-21

The problem is that officials are authorities and not teachers. Assuming or
suggesting that the problem is related to the official's behavior is
spurious for Jordan specifically and for officials generally. One also needs
to very careful when interpreting tone from an e-mail.

Jordan and other officials have noted that inappropriate behavior has been
increasing at races. The recent thread regarding inappropriate touching is
yet another example of this. There are several reasons for why this might be
the case but perhaps the best response is to evaluate our own behavior.

Mike Murray

-----Original Message-----
From: OBRA [mailto:obra-bounces@list.obra.org] On Behalf Of Manville via
OBRA
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2017 09:22
To: obra@list.obra.org
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Entitlement / Respect

The tone of this post says it all... Try being a teacher versus being an
authority. -- Manville _______________________________________________
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Dan Grabski

2017-11-21

Officials are, by definition, the role of authority at bike races.

The teachers should be all of us who race. The teachers should be the cat
1/2 guy who has been racing for years who tells his cat 5 teammate that no,
you really don’t want to get drunk before a race. The teachers should be
the team manager who lays out expectations for behavior and reminding
people that peeing in public is wrong.

I had a pair of riders a few years ago swear at me and keep on riding when
I directed them to leave a CX course when they decided to pre-ride outside
of the allowed pre-ride. Is that my responsibility as an official to teach
them to be respectful of the rules?

Dan

On Tue, Nov 21, 2017 at 9:22 AM, Manville via OBRA
wrote:

> The tone of this post says it all... Try being a teacher versus being an
> authority. -- Manville
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>


Manville

2017-11-21

The tone of this post says it all... Try being a teacher versus being an authority. -- Manville


Jordan Staples

2017-11-20

This is a tough one to write about as it has been said over and over again.

At the close of the cross season in Portland its time to reflect on the season as a whole and how it all went. For the most part I feel our organization has done a great job or keeping us all informed of the things that have been changing or issues that need to be brought up and dealt with as a whole. The promoters we have are second to none, given all the downturn in participation over the last few years and people flaming the internet with their form of justice or truths. Take time at an event next season or if you are at another race on the calendar this year and thank the people who tirelessly put on the events for us to all be a part of.

Now for my favorite part, officiating. Its been said time and time again but this part of our community is under paid, under appreciated. Officiating is a VOLUNTEER job so don't get it twisted that we do this for the $$$$ because its just not there. Myself and others do this because we love this sport and our community. Yesterday was a very sad reminder of how much our community has been changing. I had 5 separate incidents with either racers or parents of racers whom felt that their moving through a part of the race course was ok even though being asked not to do so. I get it "That's my kid racing" or "its shorter to cut through here then go around" or "yeah i know i'm not supposed to be here but i am just watching and will leave soon". Do you think your the first person who has shared your thoughts why you over anyone else should be there? Do you feel that being disrespectful to an official trying to do their job is ok? Have you for even one second put yourself in the officials shoes to know what goes into any position during a race day event? While this is a small glimpse of what WE have to deal with it is completely unnecessary. Stop being A@#holes to the people who work so you can have a safe and fair race. These types of things wont stop me from coming out but i can assure you will stop potentially new people from wanting to come in and help. So before you fire off and snarky or disrespectful response think about it, we are all in this together and need everyone to keep the attitude in the right direction. No one is entitled to anything but respect from one another.

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