North Carolina Nesties
Catching up on sports news...
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Coffee Talk: Kids in the control tower
Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic:
Discuss.
Note: For those of you who remember this Mike Myers skit from SNL, I'm getting a little veklempt because I just heart you so much!
Catching up on sports news...
Re: Coffee Talk: Kids in the control tower
Okay, the guy showed a lapse in judgment, but overall I think the FAA is making a bigger deal out of this than is needed. It's not like this guy left his kid at the controls while he went to the vending machine for some Twinkies.
I think if the controller hasn't had any prior incidents and has a good record, the FAA should suspend him and his supervisor for a few days, maybe make them pay a fine, and then let it go.
Catching up on sports news...
In a way, yes...it's cute and seemed like the experience of a father teaching his son about what he does. It sounded like the pilots KNEW there was a child in the control tower with the air traffic controller- so had the child said something that seemed "off" to them, they would've been cautious.
But that is where it gets dangerous. I don't like to see children in professional environments for more than a few minutes. I think, if the little boy's mother was there with him, say getting ready to go back home after stopping to bring dad lunch and dad wanted to let his son experience the radio calls...then ok. But someone needs to come out and give that background. Without any background...you don't know if the pilot was babysitting his child there all day, which could cause major distractions.
I agree with this. At first glance, it seems a bit overblown to me. The guy had his kid at work with him... who cares? The kid didn't do anything that endangered anyone and the dad seems to have kept things under control... again, who cares?
However, when you stop and think about what *could* happen in this situation, it's actually quite scary. Had the child pressed a button while his dad wasn't looking or if he had given a pilot bad instructions when the dad went to the bathroom or something, things could have turned out disastrous on so many levels.
I don't think he should be fired... *perhaps* suspended. I think a little something needs to be done (like a suspension) to make an example of this, so bringing your child to the workplace in an environment where people's lives depend on you doesn't become a trend.
ETA: I love that you used Linda Richman! She was one of my favorite SNL characters... "Rhode Island is neither a road, nor an island... discuss!"
Is there a distinct regulation that this gentleman broke by having his child at work, regardless of what his job is?
I think it's goofy that everyone's making such a big deal out of it. I feel like looking at the regulations surrounding the incident is what's important. If there was a regulation that said absolutely not family/friends in this area while you're working then yes he should be reprimanded for not having cleared it with a supervisor first.
Reprimanded yes but anything further...absolutely not! I loved take your daughter to work day! I even had a judge let me use his gavel haha
Ha ha ha! I LOVED Cawfee Tawk! Good stuff. And as a random aside--I think I know that guy. Granted, it seems like every 4th man you meet is a "Duffy" on Long Island, I seem to remember some of my old co-workers talk about their friend "Duffy" and that he was an air traffic controller. I think he played ice hockey with them....
ANYWHO--I kind of agree with all the PPers. I agree with Murph in that it does seem like a situation that has been blown WAY out of proportion, but at the same time, I also agree with 715 and AT in that I'm not so sure an air traffic control tower is a place where I want the rules relaxed any. I mean, I would certainly scratch my head if a surgeon brought their son/daughter into an operating room with them, but probably wouldn't give it another thought if the son/daughter happend to "pop in" to an exam room to say give a few "cute" medical comments if he/she got restless in daycare.
As for punishment--well I think I would review this guy's record--if he's had good judgement and few (if any) violations in the past--make a note in his record and give him a warning. My feeling is that their industry is serious enough that that will be sufficient deterrent to him, and any other ATC's from repeating an episode like that. And from my understanding, that job is HIGHLY stressful--for a good reason--but I also think that this was an instance of "no harm, no foul." (Again, fwiw, there was a guy in my bike club that was an ATC and he wasn't shy about how intense his work was, and that he really did use cycling as a way to release a lot of the tension. His wife was a flight attendant, so he knew what he did could directly impact his wife's, or her friends, lives.)