Just That Bit of Plastic Please

[TheStatutoryApe]

At my work the students are supposed to keep their student IDs on them at all times and show them to whom ever is at the entrance when they come through so we know that they are students. Now my boss doesn't seem to really care whether or not we know they are students, he wants us checking every person's ID every time they enter campus no matter what. I've actually been yelled at for not checking the ID of a student who I'd seen coming onto campus about a dozen times a day. Now he's gone so far even as to make us sign a piece of paper outlining these rules and telling us that if we don't follow these procedures we may be fired. So I do my job and ask for ID always.

Now I have a good two dozen or so students whom I see several times daily who sneer at me, throw their hands in the air, roll eyes at me, call me names, cuss, and just about any other way you could think that they might protest just because I ask them to show me their IDs. I tell them every time "You NEED to have your ID and you NEED to show me your ID EVERYTIME you come on campus."

This one girl in particular used to come up here in her car and stop at the gate and just sit there staring forward like I did't exist waiting for the arm to go up. After a few seconds she would sigh dramatically, heft up her purse dramatically, search for a good minute or two for her ID, then practically throw it at the window of her car. The was the routine every single time I saw her. One day after weeks of this she finally realized what a good 95% of the rest of the students here had already realized. If she simply kept her ID handy and showed it to me as she drove up she could drive right through without even having to come to a complete stop! Ofcourse she also decided that she must never look me in the face and always look annoyed at the fact that she was suffering such an indignity. Another one has decided that it's all out war and goes to what ever length possible to never have to show her ID and has flipped me off and called me an idiot I don't know how many times now.



So has anyone else ever had a job where people treated you like some insufferable miscreant for the most paltry of reasons?

 

[Pengwuino]

Nope, I don't

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Nope, I don't

Where's Your ID!

 

[Pengwuino]

*flips you off and drives through the gate*

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

*flips you off and drives through the gate*

Damn penguins today just don't have any respect!

 

[JamesU]

TSA, it's only 30 cents per bone broken for pengwuino *cracks knuckles*

 

[zoobyshoe]

I think, since you didn't make this rule, you have to communicate to the people who did make it how people are reacting. If the person who made the rule had to suffer this treatment they might develop a different way of handling it. Anyone who balks might be handed a leaflet explaining that such and such a number of female students were raped by assailants who could wander freely onto campus prior to these security measures, along with how many laptops were stolen, and all the other reported crimes the ID's are meant to control. Since they have constantly to show their IDs they may have to be constantly reminded of the good reasons for it.

 

[big man]

Have any of those people that you recognise ever forgotten their ID?
If so have you let them pass or do you refuse them entry?

If that's ever happened then you should just tell those students that it's out of your control and that you have to do it.

If they're being rude even though they always have their IDs on them then they are frickin' retarded. It seriously can't be that hard to whip out an ID once a day without being a *****/bastard.

I have to say though that this sort of thing does piss me off at the movie theatre. When they've seen you plenty of times and know perfectly well that you're a student, but if you forget your student card they will happily charge you $5 extra. They aren't monitored so I guess they just don't like me haha :)

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I think, since you didn't make this rule, you have to communicate to the people who did make it how people are reacting. If the person who made the rule had to suffer this treatment they might develop a different way of handling it. Anyone who balks might be handed a leaflet explaining that such and such a number of female students were raped by assailants who could wander freely onto campus prior to these security measures, along with how many laptops were stolen, and all the other reported crimes the ID's are meant to control. Since they have constantly to show their IDs they may have to be constantly reminded of the good reasons for it.

My boss doesn't care. He actually seems to take some odd sort of delight in making people mad at him because they have to do what he says. The people above him don't care how I'm treated unless I can somehow sue them for it.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Have any of those people that you recognise ever forgotten their ID?
If so have you let them pass or do you refuse them entry?

If that's ever happened then you should just tell those students that it's out of your control and that you have to do it.

If they're being rude even though they always have their IDs on them then they are frickin' retarded. It seriously can't be that hard to whip out an ID once a day without being a *****/bastard.

They're mostly the later sort. And I can not refuse any students entry so that isn't an issue.

I have to say though that this sort of thing does piss me off at the movie theatre. When they've seen you plenty of times and know perfectly well that you're a student, but if you forget your student card they will happily charge you $5 extra. They aren't monitored so I guess they just don't like me haha :)

This is where my boss has issue. When he or someone else does their job and makes sure to ask for IDs and stop people they complain that others don't stop them and want to know why they are being harassed. If you don't treat everyone the same regardless of how well you know them someone is liable to complain they are being treated unfairly or being harassed.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

So am I the only one who puts up with this sort of thing at work then?

 

[Math Is Hard]

What a sucky job. Have you ever thought about exotic dancing?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

What a sucky job. Have you ever thought about exotic dancing?

I won't dance, don't ask me
I won't dance, madame with you
My heart won't let my feet do things that they shoud do...

 

[Cyrus]

What a sucky job. Have you ever thought about exotic dancing?

It's a growth industry.

 

[zoobyshoe]

So am I the only one who puts up with this sort of thing at work then?

Yeah, I've had to deal with a slight amount of it in a couple different jobs, but it was lack of management foresight and I was allowed to get imput from them on how to handle it better. If I thought my manager was taking some sort of perverse pleasure in the discomfort they put me in I'd quit and get back at them later.

 

[Math Is Hard]

It's a growth industry.

There's a trick for that. It involves a hair-scrunchy. Oh, nevermind.

 

[zoobyshoe]

There's a trick for that. It involves a hair-scrunchy. Oh, nevermind.

Wha...huuuuuuhh??

 

[Moonbear]

One of my jobs in college was to sit at the reception desk at the dorm and make sure people signed in their guests as they came and went. Everyone knew this was the rule (I lived in the same dorm and had to follow the same rule myself when someone else was on duty), yet people would go to great lengths to argue and complain and avoid signing in their guests. The thing is, while it was partly for security reasons to know who was in the building and to ensure all visitors were being escorted by a resident, and not just wandering around getting into mischief, the other reason they did it was in the event of a fire, to have a headcount of who was in the building. In the case of a fire alarm, that sign-in sheet was supposed to go with me, or whoever was on duty. It wouldn't be too helpful when they would sign in their guests as "Dick Clark" or "Bugs Bunny" either.

 

[Mk]

Going in and out of the base you have to have your ID, otherwise they'd take you down.

You have you ID ready before you get to the gate, duh. I hate the people who complain about it or give a bad glance at the guards.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Going in and out of the base you have to have your ID, otherwise they'd take you down.

You have you ID ready before you get to the gate, duh. I hate the people who complain about it or give a bad glance at the guards.

Yeah, there are lots of military bases around San Diego here, and once I got disoriented and found myself coming up upon one of these guard posts. The guy was nice and gave me directions to the turnoff I'd missed.

 

[JasonRox]

Wow, we don't need student ID's to get on campus at our school.

I have been to other universities, and even used their resources (internet/books) without any problems.

 

[FredGarvin]

I have to show my ID to go to the crapper, let alone get into the parking lot. The kiddies get no compassion from me. Tell the little brats to get used to playing by certain rules.

 

[DaveC426913]

I have to show my ID to go to the crapper, let alone get into the parking lot.

And we can see why too. Fred, you should not be going to the parking lot for a crap.

 

[DaveC426913]

So has anyone else ever had a job where people treated you like some insufferable miscreant for the most paltry of reasons?

As a security guard in my youth, I have been in similar jobs.

Front-line workers are often the only face that some organizations have. As far as employees (or students) go, YOU ARE the organization. They make no distinction between policy-makers and policy-enforcers.

What you might do, is let them know that you agree with them - it sucks for you too - but your hands are tied. You might garner some sympathy.

You might also suggest that, if they complain to ____, maybe the policy will be changed. (It won't, but the point is, their ire will be directed towards the right people - and away from you.)

 

[Moonbear]

I'm guessing it's either a small college in a bad area that they want additional security to make sure people entering campus belong there, or they don't have parking fees/permits, so the IDs ensure only students are parking in student parking lots. Otherwise, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me either to need to show ID to get onto campus. We only required it for entering dorms (our dorm had those swipe key card things, and the doors were locked 24/7, so we didn't have to check for IDs, but other dorms had doors open during the day, or were just too large for people to know all the residents, so they required an ID be shown when you entered). But, that's because there were problems every once in a while with someone getting in and stealing from the rooms, and a few cases of students being raped (then again, there were cases where the crimes were committed by other residents too, so showing IDs didn't make it totally safe either...something we tried hard to convey to the students, but they just rolled their eyes and didn't listen until something made the papers).

 

[FredGarvin]

And we can see why too. Fred, you should not be going to the parking lot for a crap.

Take my wife, please! Thank you folks. He'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress.