Walking down the lanes....Ever done it? Please don't.
Another post gave me the idea to elaborate on this and I have a great example to use. Ever have your ball hit the rake or see a pin out of the gutter and go get it yourself? Yesterday we had an all employee meeting and we had people bowling. Our room has windows so we could still see if anyone came to the counter and view of the bowlers. Suddenly a lady starts running down ON THE WOOD because her cell phone somehow flew way down the lane past the graphic board. We didn't see the phone go down because we were in the meeting, just her going down the lane.
The seats emptied in seconds to stop the lady. She just gave us the deer in the headlights look. She said "I didn't know I couldn't walk on the lanes" Wow, apparently she didn't see the multiple signs that say. "For safety, do not walk on the lanes for any reason. Contact the counter" and the big red printed warning sticker at every foul line that says similar. I went down and grabbed her phone for her and she was apologetic. She said she'd thought she'd get in trouble if she told someone. She is a perfect example of why trash bags have a suffocation warning label on them if you pull them over your head.
Why do people think they are gonna get in trouble for an item accidentally flying down the lane, a ball hitting the rake, a ball not making it all the way down or a pin in the gutter? All of those things constantly happen. USUALLY it's not on purpose. Nobody will get in "trouble" for it. Besides, what trouble? LOL Are they afraid we're gonna call the cops? Ban them from the bowling alley? Charge them double? It makes me laugh. Of course if your hitting the machine on purpose you may get the boot of course. Otherwise, that's what we are there for to go get them for you. We won't even be upset about it.
So here is why NOT to do it.... it's not that we are afraid anyone is gonna hurt the lanes. They may smear the oil around on the lane but that's a quick fix with the oiler, nothing will be damaged. Of course we don't want people walking around on them but there is a proper way to go about it. Nobody should walk ON the lane, even employees. They should walk down the ball return cover and if you really have to, the gutter. A mechanic will down near the very end of the lane and pin deck to do repair on the front of the machine. They aren't oiled there anyway, only oil is just carry down.
Safety is the concern here, not just because of the oil being a slipping hazard that should be a no brainer. When we go down we use the ball return cover to walk on. The key here and huge danger is the automatic scorer. We have to step OVER it not AROUND it. If you walk around it the sensor picks up your foot and detects it as it was a ball going by. That triggers the machine to cycle which at that point you are very close to. Many here may know this but I'm guessing not everyone. That lady yesterday would have had to crawl under the graphics board to get the phone. I know this because I had to in order to get the phone so I know she would have. There is no way she would have known about the sensor and would have triggered it for sure being on the lane.
If by chance that sweep grabs your leg or any part of your body, it can be lights out or at minimum serious injury. They may only have 1/3 HP motors but you will not win the fight against the machine. It will drag you under like a rag doll and you will likely die. That's going to be a terrible mess for the mechanic (sarcasm of course). That lady would not be going about her day today like normal, she'd be a statistic instead.
I have little doubt there is anyone on this forum who doesn't know better but I bet there are some who walked down the ball return covers themselves. Even going down the ball return cover before the scorer, non-employees really shouldn't do it. Still a safety concern and likely an insurance issue if anything happens. Just make it easy on everyone and tell the counter, it may take a couple minutes longer but it's better for everyone. It does amaze me how many people at our bowling alley that are clueless, and pay no attention to warning signs. Lucky her phone didn't go into the pit or it would have been turned into a pile of iBits. We also exchanged her shoes and cleaned the foot prints off the approach before she resumed bowling. There was visible oil on both and she had no idea.
I’ve never walked down the lanes, slide down them once when I stuck though! But I have seen non league bowlers do it and get yelled at. Also seen some regulars do it as well to get a pin out of the gutter if the sweeper couldn’t reach it. Really depends on the house and how it’s ran.
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I have stuck and stepped over the foul line and it is like walking on ice. If you don't fall you are very lucky.
I guess people just panic when something happens to their phone. or just get carried away and go after their child who has just stepped onto the lane and down they go more often than not right on top of their child. just check out a few videos on youtube. good information to think about that most do not realize safety concerns above and beyond just slipping on the oil.
I guess my post reads like a safety bulletin and throw in a tad of preachy. Sorry, that was unintended actually because people on here are not idiots. It was more to point out just how unaware that silly lady was of the life threatening danger that lied ahead of her just to save her phone. Pinsetters appear quite harmless until you either go one on one with them and learn the hard way or have an understanding of them.
Or if you just have a little common sense which has been said in many posts "common sense just isn't all that common" Especially when it comes to precious cell phones these days. I'm betting many deaths and serious injuries have happened regarding saving them, not from pinsetters but in general. People treat them like they are their kids. LOL I'd love to see statistics on it because they likely exist somewhere.
I wasn't really meaning simply going past the foul line on a shot, pretty sure just about everyone has done that at least once. It's not fun if you fall or not. If you don't fall you usually tweak something in your body by trying not to. Yes, chasing children is another one. People don't pay near enough attention to them. Years ago I seen a child that wandered all the way down the lane and they had to hit the emergency stop and shut down all 32 lanes then go get the kid. Fifteen minutes later it happened again. I forgot about that one. I'm pretty sure they were asked to leave after that. They pissed off a LOT of people but that goes without saying.
I have seen plenty of people step out on the lanes to try to get a ball. What is more annoying is when they have already been told NOT TO GO ON THE LANES!
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LMAO, You're SO right!Originally Posted by TCJ
Had a league bowler beside us 2 weeks ago end up about 5' down the lane. He didn't fall. Not sure what caused it but he knew he screwed up. His whole team was laughing at him.
sounds like something every league bowler would dread....
I seen a group of teens yesterday goofing off and one did a slide on purpose, at least that was how it appeared from my vantage point at the food counter. not sure if the horseplay kept up or not because I had to leave.
At least it sounds like he's alright. Not cool his team laughed at him though, it's not a kids league. It's embarrassing enough. Makes you hope he tracked oil onto the approach where his team mates slide.
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