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Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

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Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#51

Post by torrenegra »

_delirium wrote: post #17
jbm wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You said it. Quote: Dayhoff, his boss at Crab Shack, read the story on the Times website and found himself outraged by unsympathetic comments posted by some readers. "I just can't get over some of those people reacting the way they did," he said. "This guy was a human being. He might not have meant something to somebody else, but he was like family to us. He meant something to us." -- Meanwhile: -- Jeff Lackey, who l…

Not really making a political statement either way, but I've been very surprised at how much small gestures can mean in some situations, and how relative status is. About 5 years ago, some fellow grad students and I had a fairly recent Guatemalan immigrant serving as the janitor in our part of the building. It was basically awkward all around: the janitors normally came in late-ish to vacuum and empty trash cans and…

Thank you _delirium. When I arrived to the US 12 years ago one of the many jobs I did was preparing hamburgers and cleaning bathrooms at a McDonald's. Although I had attended college back in my country of origin, my English skills were quite poor. As a consequence, most people used to ignore me. Many times I felt people thought I was stupid because I couldn't communicate properly. A few other people, though, opted to interact with me. These small interactions helped me feel intelligent and closer to the dream I had of understanding US society and becoming a more productive member of it.

Random acts of kindness like yours probably have an effect much larger than what you can imagine at the moment. Their compound effect in the lives of others and their families make them, literally, priceless.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#52

Post by chopsueyar »

Tichy wrote: post #27
jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

I wonder about the blinking things that seem to have become fashionable. I rarely drive cars, but when I did, I always found blinking lights extremely distracting. They make it hard for me to concentrate, to an extent where I wonder if it is still beneficial to the person wearing them. It's fine if a driver notices me, but I want them to still be able to concentrate. People's perceptions may vary here, for example I…

I also have my eyes when they put on the stroboscope in clubs.

Huh?

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#53

Post by electromagnetic »

sliverstorm wrote: post #12
jbm wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, do you feel that 10 years of loyal service should not be rewarded with any kind of raise at all? Even if he wasn't earning much more than 8 or 9 dollars an hour even then, but it probably would mean quite a bit for someone in that situation. With inflation, he was actually being paid less 10 years later.

Odds are if the manager really liked him, the manager would have liked to give him a raise. However, sometimes available finances simply do not warrant a raise. Sometimes higher management who does not know an employee says "why should we pay him more, we can just find another Joe to do the same job", without knowing the measure of the man.

A lack of raises in minimum-wage work is the norm. I know people who've worked in franchises for years who've barely been given raises (which are normally cancelled out by a minimum-wage increase a few months later anyway).

Why don't these companies give raises? The same reason Wal-Mart fights viciously to stop unionization; because higher-pay means higher-prices which for bottom-of-the-barrel pricing means less sales. I can buy a burger at McDonalds for a dollar; I have to shop like a pro to find the deals to get burger buns and burgers, cheese slices, pickles, ketchup/relish/etc at a comparable price to make an identical burger. Likely I'll end up spending at least $2 to make my own burger.

McDonalds is making profit off of a food item that costs less than $1. Looking at the economics of it, it's ridiculous. How many burgers in my lifetime would I have to make to equalize the cost of using electricity/gas to heat my stove top to fry a burger, and buying the frying pan in the first place, and the bun, burger, cheese, condiments.

Not giving a raise helps keep these people in a job, it's sad that it has to be this way (for more reasons than one), but thats what this world is. Although to look in the back of most McDonalds if you found one competent worker like Mr. Smith you could fire half of your day-staff. I've seen 3 good workers turn out orders faster than when every station is full and there's 20 workers in a store, because when there's a lot of them they're inevitably students and the managers are like 19 and endlessly chatter.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#54

Post by jwerlin »

jrockway wrote: post #20
ugh wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be carful with the application of hyperbole. Reflectors don’t work under certain conditions but they do work very often. They are by no means worthless. I could imagine that especially reflectors in the spokes can help increase visibility. … and the total lack of bicycle education in the US. Is there really no road safety education in school? We have pretty extensive road safety education in Germany including…

In the US, bikes are basically considered toys. If you're a kid, you ride one on your sidewalk to enjoy a sunny Saturday afternoon. If you're an adult, you buy one that costs $3000 to impress your friends. You put it on the back of your car, drive it to a fun location, and pedal around for a few hours once a month. It's way too dangerous to even consider thinking about maybe possibly riding it to work or something, b…

Sad story all around. Both for the guy who was killed and as a commentary on our lack of civility as a people.

On a separate and far less important note: As a relatively newbie bike commuter it would interesting to learn more about your set up and why you chose the accessories you mentioned in your post.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#55

Post by lemming »

jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

When I was with my ex-girlfriend her little sister was knocked off her bike, also by a totally reckless driver doing over 80km/h in a 50km/h zone. She suffered serious head trauma, they didn't actually think she'd make it through the night. She did survive but had pretty serious behavioural problems after that, and died a few years later of a cerebral tumour which was almost certainly related.

I'll never forget the surgeon when he first came out of the operating room. He said: "If she had been wearing a helmet, none of this would have been necessary and she'd be fine." You could see clearly in his face that he'd seen this way too many times.

Seriously, just buy the damn helmet and wear it. You might look like a dork but it keeps your brains on the inside where you want them.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#57

Post by ovi256 »

sliverstorm wrote: post #13

The comment on the article reveals completely the lack of intelligence and elitism of the commenter. It may be wonderful to think that the people who man lower-end jobs are somehow less deserving than you, and somehow should be executed. But without those people filling those low-end jobs, our world would fall apart. No matter what you think of them, you need them, whether you realize it or not. And on the other hand…

I think this reveals something about the commenter's mindset: he probably would never enjoy that job, and he deducts no one else could. Similar to the qualia debate in philosophy, he is generalizing way too much. He's not really guilty of that, it's the way he is. He is incredibly rude and callous though.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#58

Post by pbhjpbhj »

Tichy wrote: post #27
jrockway wrote: post #11

Police said that Mr. Smith was following bicycle safety recommendations such as wearing light-colored clothing, using reflectors and riding in the bicycle lane. This is a common misconception. Reflectors are worthless. Riding in the bike lane exposes you to great danger -- car doors flying open to the right, aggressive motorists passing too closely on the left. If you take the lane, you're out of the "door zone", and…

I wonder about the blinking things that seem to have become fashionable. I rarely drive cars, but when I did, I always found blinking lights extremely distracting. They make it hard for me to concentrate, to an extent where I wonder if it is still beneficial to the person wearing them. It's fine if a driver notices me, but I want them to still be able to concentrate. People's perceptions may vary here, for example I…

>I always found blinking lights extremely distracting. They make it hard for me to concentrate

In the UK I don't think flashing lights are allowed on moving vehicles/cycles unless they're emergency vehicles or otherwise hazardous. Lots of cyclists still use them though.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#59

Post by weaksauce »

jwerlin wrote: post #54
jrockway wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, bikes are basically considered toys. If you're a kid, you ride one on your sidewalk to enjoy a sunny Saturday afternoon. If you're an adult, you buy one that costs $3000 to impress your friends. You put it on the back of your car, drive it to a fun location, and pedal around for a few hours once a month. It's way too dangerous to even consider thinking about maybe possibly riding it to work or something, b…

Sad story all around. Both for the guy who was killed and as a commentary on our lack of civility as a people. On a separate and far less important note: As a relatively newbie bike commuter it would interesting to learn more about your set up and why you chose the accessories you mentioned in your post.

Not the op but a rack is used to carry a few items on the back of your bike, the dynamo is used to generate electricity for a light and the chain guard stops your pants from entering the chain-to-sprocket pants ruining area.

Re: Shocked by online comments, reporter writes profile of hit-and-run victim

#60

Post by viraptor »

sliverstorm wrote: post #13

The comment on the article reveals completely the lack of intelligence and elitism of the commenter. It may be wonderful to think that the people who man lower-end jobs are somehow less deserving than you, and somehow should be executed. But without those people filling those low-end jobs, our world would fall apart. No matter what you think of them, you need them, whether you realize it or not. And on the other hand…

Or the commenter was simply a troll. You get them on almost every news site now. Commenting on every article with something that will most likely cause others to argue / start a flamewar. I'm not sure if that needed a response at all. People not used to internet commenters sometimes give in too easily and start feeding the trolls... it only wastes your time and gives someone more chance to have "fun".
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