Craig,
Very good observation. Thanks for reminding all of us.
Remember that there is really no such thing as "race
officials" at autocrosses. There's just people.
And some are crabby jerks. But most are nice. Remember
the crabby jerk you encountered and don't bother asking
them again. Find somebody else and eventually you'll find
the nice one. Oh, and maybe give the jerk another chance later.
It's funny how broken parts or stupid runs can make the best of
us into stupid jerks. Also recall that those who appear important
now will later be seen to be self-important.
It's just a bunch of people. Just remember that you are as important
as anyone else out there and shine the jerks on. Oh, and completetly
read the stuff on the website, including the Novice Handbook, and
you can be one of the nice people answering questions instead of
searching for a kind soul.
Jerry
Jerry Mouton mailto:jerry@moutons.org Laissez les bons temps
rouler!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Haggart, Accelerator Ops" <haggart@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>
To: <BA-AUTOX@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 11:22 PM
Subject: On behalf of newbies
> Well, since people seem to be getting into a lot of
> constructive dialog here, I'm going to take a chance on
> getting verbally thrashed again in the hope that it might help
> the sport.
>
> As someone who is pretty new to autocrossing, I have a request
> for you experienced folks: please try to remember what things
> were like for you before YOU knew the drill. Everything may
> be entirely obvious to you now, but I'll bet that wasn't
> always the case.
>
> When someone asks you a question at an event that seems
> foolish, please remember that this person is not necessarily
> stupid and they're most certainly not trying to waste your
> time. They simply aren't yet as knowledgable as you are.
> Please at least try to be friendly and polite rather than
> annoyed or dismissive. (Yes, I saw this happen last Sunday.)
>
> When people seem clueless about things (like the proper way
> to put numbers on their cars, which happened more than once on
> Sunday), remember that there's a really good chance they just
> aren't aware of what's acceptable and what's not. They have
> no idea what things look like inside the timing trailer
> because they've never BEEN inside a timing trailer. Let them
> know nicely what needs to be done -- and why.
>
> Without the understanding of a race official's perspective,
> they don't know what's important, what's difficult, and what's
> time-consuming for people who run the events. Cut 'em a
> little slack and try to keep it fun. They'll learn.
>
> Thanks for listening!
>
> --
> -Craig "Flame Suit: ON!" Haggart
> haggart@slac.stanford.edu
> Sunnyvale, California
> '96 Miata M Edition
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