Kids not allowed at Tractor Dealership?

[unbidden]

Drop these guy's a line and see how they feel about that dealership;
https://www.ffa.org/Pages/default.aspx

 

[crazyal]

So another quick question. Your customer decides to buy a tractor from your dealership and you deliver it to their farm, an hour away from your dealership. Your customer gets about 2 hours on it and it dies. Soon your on the phone with the dealer so they can come get it. After driving an hour to get it, 15 minutes to load it, another hour back, another 15 minutes to unload it, an hour to figure out that the fuel isn't flowing because someone's kid decided that a great place for his gun was in the fuel tank, and now you still have 2 1/2 hours tied up returning it back to your customer. Would you be a happy camper that you got called away from your dealership and some thoughtless parents decided they didn't need to watch their children while at your lot just cost you almost a full day, the fuel/ wear and tear on your truck, and having having to explain to your customer that they have nothing further to worry about?

It's easy to sit on this side of the fence and say that they were wrong but I've found that there's usually a whole other side that came about because of something I don't know.

 

[crazyal]

I'm a dealer, and I like kids. I like families. Any exercise that strengthens them is a good thing. I think looking at tractors as a family is a great, even if it is just a "field trip". If people bring in their kids it just brightens our day. They are welcome to sit on the tractors. We make sure the loaders are down and the keys are removed. Sometimes we have to go turn off the 4 way flashers and make sure the throttles are pushed back down after they leave. We can do that! We have several hundred tractors in stock, and we are in California. We are aware of liability issues, and it is true that some caution must be taken. But it is also true that some risks are worth it.

If a kid has not been raised well or is just a handful for some reason and wants to chuck rocks at our cab tractors, that is a problem and we carefully address it. But we see maybe one wild-child for every 25 well behaved kids. Tractor folks tend to work the land and they seem to raise their kids well. It's a nice community. I'd much prefer they bring the kids than leave them home playing video games or whatever.

So Ultrarunner, come on up and bring kids.

So how would you handle it if you weren't at your dealership? What if all of your sales people and yourself, assuming you have more than yourself, were out of the office for some reason and the only person left was an accountant who knew nothing about tractors? Exactly how would you deal with that kid chucking rocks? I can't see a good way to deal with it.

 

[foreman Etexas]

So how would you handle it if you weren't at your dealership? What if all of your sales people and yourself, assuming you have more than yourself, were out of the office for some reason and the only person left was an accountant who knew nothing about tractors? Exactly how would you deal with that kid chucking rocks? I can't see a good way to deal with it.

The parents should take over first off,if they didnt see it tell them what has happened if they allow it to keep happening,you tell the parents they will be held liable for there childs damages. No different than if someones child came into your yard and started throwing rocks at your tractor. Dont punish the other 25 families for ones lack of parenting. Coaching baseball a couple years now and its not a cake walk dealing with some parents or kids but someone has to do it or what:confused3:. He said carefully address it and everyone is going to be different and all you can do is the best that you can.
Hats off to you DavesTractor...

 

[joshuabardwell]

After driving an hour to get it, 15 minutes to load it, another hour back, another 15 minutes to unload it, an hour to figure out that the fuel isn't flowing because someone's kid decided that a great place for his gun was in the fuel tank, and now you still have 2 1/2 hours tied up returning it back to your customer.

We can all make up hypothetical examples that prove our point; therefore making up hypothetical examples proves nothing. Here. Watch. What if an oil filter had a leaky gasket and hydraulic fluid was dribbling out, and nobody noticed it except a kid who was short enough that he was eye level to the leak? A ha! That's one point in favor of the "kids on the lot" side! And the whole conversation devolves into a competition between who can make up the most, and most extreme, examples in favor of their side. I think it's just pointless.

As far as I can tell, exactly one dealer has spoken up on this thread, and he said that only one out of twenty-five kids on his lot was a problem. It seems to me like this is being blown out of hand. It seems like a popular activity for adults to sit around and kvetch about how terrible kids are these days. It's never okay to prohibit a whole class of people because of the bad actions of an extreme minority.

 

[3v0]

I was going to say "I'll bet a dollar to a donut" but the only place selling them in town starts at $1.50! Seems the saying dates back to 1890.

Anyway I do not think anyone is going to change anyones mind.

It seems like a popular activity for adults to sit around and kvetch about how terrible kids are these days. It's never okay to prohibit a whole class of people because of the bad actions of an extreme minority.

Thinking the police and parts of the government do this all the time.


As I said stop over at Etiquette **** and spend a few days reading about how ugly, stupid, horrid, and insane children and their parents can be. Personally I would not waste the time as I have to listen to my wife go on about it. But it is a small price to pay

 

[joshuabardwell]

Thinking the police and parts of the government do this all the time.

Not true. Not true at all. For example: Police are explicitly prohibited from pulling over drivers and searching cars because of the race of the driver. The specific individual who is being acted against must have done something to deserve the police attention. Do they do it anyway and get away with it sometimes? Sure. But that doesn't make it right.

As I said stop over at Etiquette **** and spend a few days reading about how ugly, stupid, horrid, and insane children and their parents can be.

While we're at it, I could link you to another web site that describes how awful black people are. One can find lots of examples of hate speech on the Internet. What's your point?

 

[3v0]

I love kids but I know what they are capable of. Without decent parenting to teach them right from wrong the are viscous animals.

I spent 4 years as a volunteer teacher at the local HS. Most parents have next to no control over there teenagers. It starts with the 'they can do no wrong' attitude I am seeing here.

While I was teaching every male in one class, thinking it was juniors, had tangled with the law. A lot of it was drunk driving and drugs which is strange since we are bible belt and dry. But some were nabbed for theft and other crimes.

I had one kid come to our school just so he could take my class. Within 2 months he went from the top of the class to the bottom, it was clear something was wrong. I visited with his mother about my concern and she said "I can't do anything with him". By the time he graduated he had the rep as a big time druggie. They bought him a vet for graduation.

About the cops: I refuse to get started on that one. That deserves its own thread and I am not sure I want to take part in it.

 

[chub380]

If the parents are doing there job there is no need for a stupid rule like that

 

[blueriver]

Its a different world today than even yesterday ... My kids and my grandkids know the "look" ... it seems that todays generation is different but I'm sure yesterdays generation thought we where different.

I believe kids should be welcome anywhere and everywhere ... heck dad used to take me in the pool hall for an orange soda while he had a cold beer ... I learned alot when I saw my first drunk fall off a bar stool ... told myself right then and there that was not for me !!

All kids are good just some better than others. Any business will better themselves by having kids around ... nothing written in stone that you can't tell one "HEY KID STOP THAT"