Yak,yak, yak

Warning. Grumpy old man going off on a rant.

Cell phones and women. Yes, women. Men use them too,  only  far less and have shorter conversations.

My employer provides each driver with a company  cell phone for the duration of the shift.  These are old school flip phones. The procedure is to call “Dispatch” to log on with that specific number. At the end of the shift you call “Dispatch” and log off. Then you plug in the phone to the charger and leave. Other than talking to Dispatch or a specific customer there is no reason to use the cell phone. A phone may be used by three different drivers during a 24 hour cycle.

What do I find at the start of my shift? A phone not on the charger but with a low battery. OK, find a phone that is charged and swap batteries. Out of respect for others, find a charger and plug in the phone that now has a depleted battery.

Out of curiosity, I like to check the call log. When the preceding user is a man, there is usually four or five calls, all to Dispatch or customers. Duration? Under five minutes per call.

When the preceding user is a woman? Ten to twenty calls to other drivers or numbers not in our system. Duration? Many minutes.

In the short time I've been with this company, two drivers (both women) have rear ended another driver. The cell phone record shows they were on the phone at the time of the accident.

My question is, if you need to chatter with another girlfriend, why the hell not use your own damn phone? Do you take stupid pills before coming to work or are you totally, like, clueless?

My last stop at the end of shift is a gas station. Fill the tank and wash the windows. Takes ten minutes tops. One guess as to how I find the car when I come on shift.

Long ago I gave up on the fight where men don’t put the seat down and 5’ nothing women never slide the seat back. Slide the seat back is the first step in my preflight.

Over and over I remind myself I am RETIRED and no longer concerned with herding cats. The job is only to pay off some medical bills. That doesn't stop the ingrained management observations that still cause the stupid to burn. Shut up WSF, clock out, and go home.

Oh how I wish Colorado would go the Wyoming route and ban handheld  cell phones in moving vehicles. I see drivers cross intersections on the green never looking left or right because they are engrossed in their phone call. If their left hand holding the phone to their ear and their right hand is making gestures, I guess their knees are doing the steering.

Enough waste of bandwidth WSF. Go back to playing poker on your computer.