Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website now

[Nardpuncher]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

I'm black but I think it's just a dumb kid. The media playing it up (but we can't stop them) just makes it worse.

Ummmm....you know i love your dawggies and all, but......no you aren't (black that is).


RJ, i agree with you. Kids need to face the consequences of their actions. If a law was broken then the appropriate punishment applies. I think if more kids were given the appropriate punishments then we'd see a lot fewer problems than we do. [/old fart]

Whoa thanks!
I think I wanted to write "I'm white" or maybe "I'm not black" and my brain split the two.

 

[T'Baio]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Or maybe you're just pretty fly for a white guy.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Some kid was making an ass of himself out in public. Seems that Walmart has learned their lesson and is going to be changing their PA system so this doesn't happen again.

End of story, I think.

Until kids figure out the new number you have to dial to make an intercom page.

 

[Shikarnov]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

This is really shocking. I can't believe anyone would do that. I mean kids do pranks but this?

Kids exercise poor judgment. That's hardly news. Moreover, in the world of pranks, this one is very mild.

I agree that arresting the kid is excessive in the extreme. It's yet another symptom of our overly-sensitive society. The future US depicted in Demolition Man may not be that far off the mark.

 

[John Picard]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Where I live, most people would be mildly amused if they heard something like this over a shopping centre loud speaker. It may cause a few glances and frowns between shoppers, but everyone would understand it was some kid (or someone) making a prank.

The greater problem is those who take stuff too seriously, and blow minor incidents out of proportion.

Also I think, if kids didn't play up from time to time, then what a dull place the world would be.

in a lot of cases that is true.
but this was new jersey which often ranks in the top five in hate crimes in the united states.

it maybe just a stupid prank or a stupid bigot getting started in causing trouble.

The term "hate crime" is a politically correct term for "thought crime".

 

[Kestra]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Where I live, most people would be mildly amused if they heard something like this over a shopping centre loud speaker. It may cause a few glances and frowns between shoppers, but everyone would understand it was some kid (or someone) making a prank.

The greater problem is those who take stuff too seriously, and blow minor incidents out of proportion.

Also I think, if kids didn't play up from time to time, then what a dull place the world would be.

It's not like it was some kid giving a shout out to some friends over the system. It was a racist comment telling an entire group of people to get out of the store. Not quite the crime of the year, but not a harmless prank to be amused by, either.

 

[John200]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Oh my God give the kid life.

Didn't know offending some one was against the law now.

Go to know the PC crowd are looking to jail people for using the wrong words.

No one died so we should get on with our lives now.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Ridiculous palaver over nothing. Kids play pranks all the time.

Fine him, get him to do some community service to annoy him enough not to repeat it again, and let the parents give him a sharp clip around the ears. End of. To see it reported as major news on some of the online outlets is nuts.

Agreed. And for the few people who got seriously bent out-of-shape, get the fuck over yourselves. There are idiot kids (and even idiot adults) who say/do stupid things. The logical thing in this case was to report it to the manager of the store and move on. It wasn't WalMart's fault. Heck, I remember times when someone in the store would get on the intercom (it was laughably easy) and say something that they shouldn't say. Or call up the store and see if they could get someone to page "Mike Hunt" or daft stuff like that.

In the old days, the kid would have got whacked upside the head by his parents when they found out and that would have been the end of it. Or for the non-violence folks, his parents would have had him do some work to keep him occupied and out of trouble.

Sounds like sense.

Overheard in my local supermarket recently on the tannoy "This is a staff announcement ~ will the person who has taken the stapler from the customer service desk please return it immediately"

If left in charge of such a device I would find it hard not to have the occasional jape

 

[Aragorn]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

The media playing it up (but we can't stop them) just makes it worse.

What? The media never plays anything up! Our planet still hasn't recovered from Y2K and bird flu! It's like Mad Max out there, only with sharks!

 

[StarryEyed]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Oh my God give the kid life.

Didn't know offending some one was against the law now.

They probably nailed him on trespassing - which is an arrestable offense. I'm not saying it's appropriate but WalMart does have the right to press charges. I imagine they want to make it crystal-clear that they did not condone this.

 

[scotpens]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

There are people who blame Walmart for the kid actions.

Yes, they're called liability lawyers. Otherwise known as ambulance chasers. Did the Wal-Mart manager hand the boy a phone, punch the public-address code, and tell him to say something racially offensive? I'm sure there will be lawsuits stemming from this stupid act by a kid who just thought he was being funny. God knows, I did plenty of dumb things when I was that age.

 

[scotpens]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

. . . Overheard in my local supermarket recently on the tannoy "This is a staff announcement ~ will the person who has taken the stapler from the customer service desk please return it immediately"

If left in charge of such a device I would find it hard not to have the occasional jape

I'm sorry, but is there a joke there? And what's a "tannoy"?

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

And what's a "tannoy"?

It's a loudspeaker and public address system designed t'annoy everyone else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tannoy

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

. . . Overheard in my local supermarket recently on the tannoy "This is a staff announcement ~ will the person who has taken the stapler from the customer service desk please return it immediately"

If left in charge of such a device I would find it hard not to have the occasional jape

I'm sorry, but is there a joke there? And what's a "tannoy"?

It does depend on your sense of humour, apparently they can be purchased at Walmart. Go fish.

 

[Thena]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Was it a stupid, childish prank? Yes.

Could it have been potentially dangerous? Black people have been targets of violent hate crimes before. He could have made the announcement because he was about to start shooting. There could have been a panic and people could have been hurt rushing for the exits. Yes, these are extreme scenarios but people have been trampled to death at Wal-Mart before. For those reasons, Wal-Mart and the local police have to consider this pretty seriously.

What few of the news articles have mentioned is that there's reports of previous incidents at this store. Also, the teenager who was arrested had been accompanied to the store by a friend and that friend's parent. Finally, Wal-Mart does have history of incidents of racism.

As far as the public address system, anyone who used to watch the Tom Green show knows how stupid it was to have a PA system that was accessible to anyone.

 

[RAMA]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Wow I can't believe this made the national news!! I was just talking about this with a coworker the other day. I live in southern Jersey. We all assumed it was a teenager, and sure enough it was a 16 yr old kid. Is it worth being arrested over? Probably not.

From what I understand, he was able to make the announcement not because the system was available to everyone, but because an employee had put the phone down to check something and the kid picked it up.

RAMA

 

[KimMH]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

I'm old and no fun and I think this kid should know better and bears watching. He'll end up with a rap sheet beginning with a "prank" like lighting fires to animals and such. Who knows where it could end up? The sky's the limit kid.

 

[John Picard]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

I'm old and no fun and I think this kid should know better and bears watching. He'll end up with a rap sheet beginning with a "prank" like lighting fires to animals and such. Who knows where it could end up? The sky's the limit kid.

Um, right I am shocked and amazed you haven't called for him to be incarcerated a-la A Clockwork Orange and heavily medicated.

 

[kimc]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

Oh my God give the kid life.

Didn't know offending some one was against the law now.

They probably nailed him on trespassing - which is an arrestable offense. I'm not saying it's appropriate but WalMart does have the right to press charges. I imagine they want to make it crystal-clear that they did not condone this.

Especially since they're a richer target for a lawsuit than a teenager would be.

 

[Small White Car]

Re: Attention, TrekBBS posters: All black people, leave the website no

The kid's not racist. You ONLY do a prank like this to be funny and you'd only find that kind of joke funny if you're not racist...because then it's outrageous. That's the humor.

If he WAS a racist he wouldn't have said that because it wouldn't have been funny to him. It would be serious then and trust me, a teenager does not waste a pranking opportunity on something serious.

Here's another example: Imagine a pranking teenager getting on the PA and saying "Jesus is Lord. That is all." I can promise you that that is not a religious kid. Because...once again...if they believed in Jesus that wouldn't be a joke.

Now if some 80 year old white guy had said it...yeah...total racist. But it was a teenager. This is basic joke 101 stuff here.

EDIT: I should reiterate that it was a terrible idea that likely scared people and hurt their business. He should be punished. But just because it was wrong that doesn't mean he's a racist.