Idiot Gate Attendants
 

So, being semi-new to TV...what is the protocol for the gate attendants? I would think that those who are in the "guest" line would be controlled and thus the residents would not have issues. This however is certainly not the case at Morse and 466...in one place we have golf cars crossing the road, the "residents" lane ends suddenly and the guests have a straight shot.

So, yesterday the residents lane was backed up...there were carts in the middle of Morse trying to cross (and could not due to traffic from the gate) and the idiot running the gate just kept the arm in the guest lane up and held a stop sign at his side. EACH of us residents has to swipe our access cards and wait for the arm...So, I asked the attendant what he even did, and why I would not just use the much faster "guest" lane...his response..."What do you want me to do?"....

I have a suggestion...CONTROL TRAFFIC IDIOT!!! There is NO reason that a guest should take priority over anyone with a resident card, why a resident should worry about being side swiped by a guest who does not know that our lane is ending. No reason that carts should be waiting in Morse for guests to pull into the neighborhood.

I for one will simply take the guest lane. Time and again it is obvious that it is faster.

That is probably the most difficult gate in The Villages that I have witnessed. Every time I go through it I see a cart narrowly missing getting run over. They need to put their brightest recruits at that gate as they have to be on the ball for sure.

You answered your own question. No need to call the person an idiot.

Faster is not always a goal here. Calling the folks who work the gates "idiots" annoys me mightily. They are our neighbors and believe me they aren't earning a fortune. I have some advice for you. Drive carefully, drive as if every other human is out to get you. I had never, ever, ever, ever, ever thought about letting someone in as a guest first being a problem.

The posse. Yep, we haven't gotten them together lately. Girls? You ready?

By the way those idiots are some of your neighbors.
Also, I am a resident and I use the guest lane all the time.
Does that then make me an idiot?

If he can not do his job, control traffic and allow residents (both in carts and cars) to drive in a safe way into the neighborhood. Yep - he is an idiot.

If he does not like his pay...well, he is not forced to accept a position for the pay scale now is he? When compared to other places with gates - Say, Pensacola Beach for example. Guests always, every time wait for people who are in the residents lane.

Simply there are far too many "close calls" there (@ Morse & 466). On Thursday last week (I think it was Thursday) a cart went into the curb avoiding a car.

I have a very simple solution for myself - I will simply take the guest gate every time. It is proven to be faster with a better view of the cart path. And, I do not need to depend on the efforts of someone who is potentially bitter about their pay scale to keep traffic flowing properly.

Nope, that makes you an intelligent driver ;)

Do you have to be a girl to be in the posse?? Oh never mind, I'll just sit back and watch. :)

I haven't posted much lately. I found that I was getting caught up in pointless discussions in a way I really don't like. I'm doing my best now to just ignore those and stay positive...enjoying ToTV for all the fun and good that far outweigh the negative. This topic is a classic example. It's the toughest challenge I've had so far to not respond the way the devil in me really wants to. Calling the gatekeepers idiots annoys me mightily too. But I'll just leave it at that.

So posse...do your thing. And on a personal note, if you see me letting that dark side come out in the future, please feel free to reach out through your internet connection and slap me up side the head!! Please! ;)

I think it's terrible that someone calls someone an "idiot". Shameful. Not being the best gate keeper doesn't make anyone an idiot !!! :ohdear:

This is a MANAGEMENT issue. Calling this guy an idiot makes little sense.

The "guest" lane at More is also marked "resident" so it's legal either way, no real issue. I do agree the resident's lane is more difficult. Bad engineering at that gate.

Semi new people should learn the system before callings others idiots. For one thing, these are public roads and being a Villager gives you no special privilege. Secondly, .... oh why bother?

Um, yes it does. Someone who speaks no language at all could do a better job. If they were to hire some disabled people (as in mentally), they would probably do a better job. IF there is an accident at Morse & 466 inbound - I hope they sue TV and the attendant (if that is where the accident is). It is not hard at all...hold a sign (dont push the gate button)...wait...lower sign and push button. If they are making more than minimum wage for that it is highway robbery.

Simply standing and watching and holding a sign as traffic becomes a cluster and no one knows who is going where - carts are blocking the outbound lane and cars merge into the left willy nilly? Um, yeah. Idiot. (it is not like there are serious qualifications - just a tad of common sense).

It is just short of a miracle that there hasn't been a serious accident at the 466 Morse Blvd gate. You couldn't pay me enough to "man" that gate and I admire anybody who would take that job.

OP, the main reason for the gate is to slow cars up so we don't injure each other. Without a tunnel at that location, it's the best we can do but who of us wants that responsibility?

I could not agree more. I was stunned that a cart did not get its front end taken off by a truck pulling a trailer (it was VERY close). Cars in front of me could not merge left, carts were backed up six or so deep trying to cross and the attendant just kept the guest arm up.....yeah. Idoit. :spoken:

Record, maybe in your mind you should be first all the time and need to hurry even though retired, but it ain't so McGee. The Villages is based on property sales, that is the driving engine. Guests are the one's that are first time buyers and need to be appreciated. No, that doesn't affect you in the short run. But it would in the long run. Think about more than your immediate wants. And they are wants not needs, there is a difference.

[emoji1303]


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Again, this is a MANAGEMENT issue, why can't you see this ?

So - this "resident" who is "of age" and would, in theory have the common sense after a few decades of driving can not run the gate with any due diligence? Try to avoid traffic backups into 466 and the cart lanes? Maybe MGT should fire him...That is what I would do as a manager if I was to see the fiasco.

It has been said, in this very thread "they only make X an hour"..so be it. Find someone who is willing give just a bit of an effort for the money. The funny thing, despite being freaked out about the fiasco. It seems that it is always that way at that gate. No other gate is ever like that (as has been said - terrible deigns).

You answered your own question. The attendant isn't an idiot, simply overwhelmed.

I'm pretty sure you would qualify....

The gate keepers are instructed to give cars priority at that gate so that traffic does not back up to 466. That is a fact. The gate keeper is not an idiot, just doing what he is told. Same with golf ambassadors.

The Morse and 466 interchange of gate/visitors/residents/golf carts is the worst! There is just nothing safe about the golf carts crossing in front of both north and south Morse traffic and then having to deal with the people coming in the gate! :cus:

Something should be changed there! It's just plain dangerous.

I think the OP should volunteer for this job. They apparently know all the answers. This is a very tough gate and dangerous traffic flow for cars and carts. If one KNOWS this is a dangerous gate, one must take extra precautions and drive very carefully in this area. Looks like the OP knows this...

If the gate attendant leaves the guest gate down for to long, traffic would back up to the stop light at Morse and 466. I bet the OP would be calling the gate attendant an idiot for leaving the gates down and backing up traffic.

Until the OP has walked a mile in the gate attendant's shoes, they should refrain from name calling. As my grandmother always told me, be careful when you start pointing your finger at someone, because that means you have four fingers pointing back at you...

Maybe the OP is the idiot.


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My money's on that ! ;)

Some people get nervous when the spotlight isn't on them. I also firmly believe that where your from (hometown) helps determine your tolerance of waiting in line for a movie, I won't, a restaurant, never ever. Emergency room at the hospital, our family has built a wing on the place in the last 30 years but we sit and wait like everyone else, we are not special. Waiting in traffic, no problemo. We are accustomed to certain things but I believe a universally accepted custom is to not fire a terrible remark at a person before you have walked in their shoes. Thinking it is one thing, publishing it is another. When you have a job that involves anything that has wheels on it such as cars, trucks, golf carts you must make decisions on the fly and usually very rapidly. Having someone being disappointed that they were not anointed to be first is normal just like in a DayCare for Children. Everyone wants to be first! Watch your mouth Skippy. Things have worked very well at TV before you and I arrived...I imagine they will continue that way.

I would like to see you handle this gate for one week at all different times and see who is the "Idiot". Walk a mile in their shoes.

Or,
VCCD Human Resources
984 Old Mill Run
The Villages FL 32162
352-674-1905

actually apply for a position as Gate Attendant, and request the assignment at the Morse Road/466 gate. Villagers, guests, and passers-by would all benefit knowing that for 6 hours a day, 4 days in a row that particular entrance gate would be operated perfectly. And that would be a wonderful contribution to our community.

Way Off Base
 

I do not like anyone calling anyone names. Until you work this person's job, the same way that person is trained to do the job, then please refrain from the name calling for sure.

As has been posted by many others, this needs to be addressed to the powers-that-be, not the employee. Remember the old adage, "Don't kill the messenger, just because you don't like the message."

These people are Village residents themselves and just want to earn a couple of extra bucks and do something useful for their community. Not everyone who comes/came here has money to burn. My neighbor (now deceased) worked as a gate attendant to occupy his time and try to give back. He definitely did not need the income, but just enjoyed working. Today's youth could learn a lot from someone like this.

I was a supervisor for the 2000 Census and had one numerator who didn't like the way he had to do his job and continuously complained that he didn't think it was being done right. Sorry, but as I explained to him, he was hired to do a job the way he was trained to do it. I was trained how to train them, not to come up with ways to do it another way. That's what we got paid to do and the system had worked for generations. Had there been improvements? Of course; just not by us, our supervisors, their supervisors, but by the top of the line.

Another thought: If residents are going through the guest gate, how does one know who is a resident and who is a guest? Maybe the "guests" being criticized are actually residents.

Record: Might I suggest before you become enraged over an issue you give yourself some time to become acquainted with the dynamics of this place.

Your explanation of what occurred speaks to the fact that you do not understand what occurs at that gate on a daily basis. its like being an air controller at O'Hare or Kennedy Airport vis a vis Sanford or Leesburg.

Using the term "idiot" on this forum can label you persona non grata. I am sure you are just having a bad day. We've all been there...and no "a dullard" not a good substitute:D

Gosh, being semi-new to the villages, clearly name calling will not allow you to make new friends. If you think you can do better, get your application in and show them how it's done! Lets see how good you are! Let go of the name calling, think at your age you just be beyond that!

Just because you are a resident does not limit you to use of the resident gate. As has been stated many times throughout the millennia, this is not a gated community. It is a community with gates. The roads are public, hence why would you rate access more quickly than someone else?

I believe the only "control" the gates exert is to slow traffic so cars and carts may deal with one another at a slower speed.

Bonny, I'm surprised. This statement is out of character for you.

You yourself said "I think it's terrible that someone calls someone an "idiot". Shameful".

OP, you should stay away from that gate, otherwise, we may have to ascribe to you the same qualities you ascribe to others.

There are always people who've moved here and, in 40 years of working like a dog in someone else's employ, they never got to be the BOSS over other poor slobs whom they figure should have been fired.

But here, like everywhere else, if you want to be the BOSS, you have to put your money where your mouth is, and buy the business. (Or apply, get hired, and work your way up to being BOSS.)

:0000000000luvmyhors

Just got so upset when someone publicly calls someone an idiot. :( My bad !