...
Indeed the opening poster started a thread with a one sided attack on railway management and graduates.
May I suggest you read the original post on that thread again. Nowhere once did I attack graduates. Yes, that is one direction that the thread went, but, honestly, I hadn't realised that was still a deep issue, just as it was 40 years ago when, guess, what, I was a graduate
I totally agree I was being provocative - that certainly was intentional, but what I wanted to provoke was discussion on the subject of management training, eg how effective is it? If, after all these years, the system is producing less than ideal managers (and it would seem, from the reactions on the thread, which I've just looked at- "far from ideal" would be a better description), then why so? What can be done about it?
Also, high up in my post, I wrote something about no manager can please everyone all the time. And I did note that floating the idea of poor management based on two examples could be an error.
If you count that as an attack as a one-sided attack on railway management, well, that's up to you, but I would disagree.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
It doesn't seem you have been paying much attention to the section, these are not the only threads in it and very far from the only type of dispute that is found there.
I read a lot of those threads, partly because I an amazed at the variations in policies enacted by the same TOC. I find it frightening, actually. But whether I "pay much attention" according to your understanding of the phrase, I can't say.
Many of the disputes are begun wrongfully by train companies which they end up losing.
So it seems, and I'm genuinely pleased to hear the TOCs do end up losing, if proved to be in the wrong. (But I somehow think it's a horrid way to treat passengers, and must put a lot off.)
But what has that got to do with my original point? Does that mean someone so wronged can come on here demanding assistance as of a right?
Well, of course, they can, there is no restriction (within limits) on how they word their requests, but is that the best way for them to get the assistance they need?
While my assesment of that would be that rather than providing advice, there are a lot of posters (I do not single out anyone, just because you have) whose goal it seems to be more to laugh at the misfortune of others in that section. The purpose of the section is to provide advice - not to presume guilt and lecture someone about what they have done wrong.
Why on earth do you bring this up? Where have I suggested that people should be lectured if caught travelling without a ticket?
This is one of the reasons I do not have much trust in this forum as an arena for productive discussion. While I count a significant number of members as valued friends and know them well, there is always someone looking to criticise you and happy to be as pedantic as necessary to facilitate that.
Well, you have accused me of not paying attention to posts in the disputes section - which is a total irrelevance - and you have implied I advocate lecturing people in the same section - when I haven't.
And then you say you lack trust in the forum because "there is always someone looking to criticise you and happy to be as pedantic as necessary to facilitate that."
Hmmmm. Interesting.