Very rude skywarn guy

blueangel-eric · #1 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 12:34 AM

My friend and I met my first Skywarn person for the first time. he was in Coffey county in KS with Shawnee Co plate. i came up to his window and asked him about the storms and he said they're all to the south and I asked if i can see the radar and he said I'm busy and rolled the window up before i could say anything else.

no hi how ya doing? no introductions or anything. He had a Skywarn logo on his SUV and so i guess hes some official for skywarn. must be a snobby organization if that's how they treat newcomers to the field.

I don't have radar in my vehicle so it would have been nice if he would have let me see his. He couldn't have been too busy has he wasn't even chasing any storms. the area was clearing off. It's too bad as i've never got to me a skywarn person in person before.

icom1020 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 12:39 AM

There are rude people everywhere, railfans, ham operators, public servants,Dick Cheney, etc. . I wouldn't base your obs on him alone.

MPSCS · #3 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 12:44 AM

SKYWARN is made up of everyday people just like you meet anywhere else. The guy most likely didn't have radar, most do not. He was probably afraid you were going to ask him questions he couldn't answer. Many of them are posers.

blueangel-eric · #4 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SIG-INT

SKYWARN is made up of everyday people just like you meet anywhere else. The guy most likely didn't have radar, most do not. He was probably afraid you were going to ask him questions he couldn't answer. Many of them are posers.

He had the radar i saw it on the laptop. he had all kinds of gear except no antennas on the vehicle. He had some fancy high end cell phone too.

MPSCS · #5 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueangel-eric

He had the radar i saw it on the laptop. he had all kinds of gear except no antennas on the vehicle. He had some fancy high end cell phone too.

Most likely the National Weather Service web site's radar, or something similar.

W7RA · #6 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 01:03 AM

Wife could have just left him that morning, or somebody could have died. Give people the benefit of the doubt, especially during these times.

Fast1eddie · #7 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 02:32 AM

Why even associate with such a whacker????

trace1 · #8 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 12:27 PM

Could be that he just didn't want to be bothered...

Next time you see a Police Officer sitting in his Patrol Car after working a serious accident, etc. go up to him and ask to see his computer or why or who caused the accident. After all the accident is over and out of his area so he must not be busy writting a report or waiting to be cleared by dispatch, etc.

K8TEK · #9 (**permalink**) 05-14-2009, 04:22 PM

You sound kind of rude yourself. Did you introduce yourself or just start asking him questions?

RagnarD · #10 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 06:13 AM

His radar feed was probably via a mobile broadband connection from the National Weather Service or a local TV station.

Maybe he thought you were going to try and car jack him, rob him or take his laptop?

RagnarD

ki4rvh · #11 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueangel-eric

must be a snobby organization if that's how they treat newcomers to the field.

How did he know you were a "newcomer to the field" ?

ki4rvh · #12 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fast1eddie

Why even associate with such a whacker????

I spit Sprite all over my laptop when I read this. Thats too funny!

blueangel-eric · #13 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ki4rvh

How did he know you were a "newcomer to the field" ?

well for one thing if i wasn't i wouldn't be asking him about the storms and wanting to see his radar. if i was experienced i would probably have my own goods and my own knowledge. I tried to strike up a conversation about the storms so i'm sure he knew i wasn't going to car jack him etc.

NWtoSFO · #14 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trace1

Could be that he just didn't want to be bothered...

Next time you see a Police Officer sitting in his Patrol Car after working a serious accident, etc. go up to him and ask to see his computer or why or who caused the accident. After all the accident is over and out of his area so he must not be busy writting a report or waiting to be cleared by dispatch, etc.

Kinda apples and oranges, isn't it? I don't know too much about Skywarn, but the police aren't allowed to tell you much about anything. Are Skywarn people allowed to say much about the thunderstorm that just rolled through? I'm sure Skywarn's reports aren't going to be used in a court of law, potentially putting someone behind bars. No need for them to be rude. I could understand a policeman being rude, or coming across as rude, after an accident.

Quote:

Originally Posted by W7RA

Wife could have just left him that morning, or somebody could have died. Give people the benefit of the doubt, especially during these times.

Seems like a lot of people want to make the current times an excuse for the way people behave. A rude person today was rude yesterday, too. Hard times don't make a rude person. They're just rude. If a guy is going to show himself as knowledgable in a field (Skywarn), then he should at least take the time to field questions that will almost certainly arise.

Just my opinions.

Matthew

rdale · #15 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 10:55 PM

Having a Skywarn bumper sticker has NOTHING to do with "being knowledgeable in the field." It means you sat through an hour of Powerpoint with pictures. So you know more than Joe Public, but little else...

redhelmet13 · #16 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 11:22 PM

Plenty of times, Joe Local has come up to us when we are sitting somewhere and ask what is going on...We are never rude but at the same time we try not be alarmist or wisea**es either. It is best to polite yet restrained in giving information to the locals... Fellow chasers on the other hand deserve common courtesy.... (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you applies here).

Be safe and dont get too close!!! Too mant really close calls the other day!

ki4rvh · #17 (**permalink**) 05-15-2009, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blueangel-eric

well for one thing if i wasn't i wouldn't be asking him about the storms and wanting to see his radar. if i was experienced i would probably have my own goods and my own knowledge. I tried to strike up a conversation about the storms so i'm sure he knew i wasn't going to car jack him etc.

I guess what I was asking did you introduce yourself , tell him you were ham operator Kx#xxx and tell him you were interested in storm spotting?

I was just thinking since I've gone up to hams I didn't know after seeing an antenna or a call sign plate and after introducing myself, telling them I was a ham, etc. I usually get a very warm reception. Just a thought.

Whatever the case, I wouldn't loose any sleep over it.

trace1 · #18 (**permalink**) 05-16-2009, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWtoSFO

Kinda apples and oranges, isn't it?

Not exactly...

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWtoSFO

I don't know too much about Skywarn, but the police aren't allowed to tell you much about anything. Are Skywarn people allowed to say much about the thunderstorm that just rolled through? I'm sure Skywarn's reports aren't going to be used in a court of law, potentially putting someone behind bars. No need for them to be rude. I could understand a policeman being rude, or coming across as rude, after an accident.

... wasn't actually comparing the two.

But, you have to admit that the guy in question just may not have wanted to be bothered with some unknown person coming up to him and asking a lot of questions. He COULD have been busy doing something else that the original poster was not aware of.

While it may or may not be true that a Police Officer would or would not divulge any such information in regards to an accident or incident the fact of the matter that the Police Officer himself may too be busy if writing up a report or something else that we, the general public, wouldn't be privy to. He is BUSY and has NO TIME to answer Joe Blow's questions, etc.

I'm not sure what you may know about Law Enforcement work but I've "been there done that" myself.

elephant101 · #19 (**permalink**) 05-16-2009, 01:47 AM

And now to get off topic (someone has to!)..........redhelmet, I love your avatar. I'll bet there are only
a handful of people who know what it is and even fewer geeks, like me, that have it all on DVD.

I know, this should be in the tavern, but since I saw the avatar here, I just had to comment.

I turn you back over to the thread at hand.

NWtoSFO · #20 (**permalink**) 05-16-2009, 10:12 AM

Oh, I'm not saying that someone in LE doesn't want to answer someone's questions. I know that the backlog of calls can sometimes reach several hours into one's shift. I would never walk up to an officer sitting in a car and expect him to chat it up with me. And, you're right; maybe the Skywarn guy simply didn't want to be bothered with anybody. "If" it went down exactly like Eric said, then the guy was simply rude in the way he handled it. Or he really was a poser and didn't want anyone to find out that he didn't know anything.