Thinking out loud for a moment...

[LadySmith]

Yo, why it gots to be like all like dat?

FTFY 

[KD5NRH]

I regularly roust the ne'er-do-wells who rent our church/school's gym who park in the fire lane(1).  I am on the board of trustees and have suggested we call the police to ticket & tow them, but I keep getting voted down by the weak sisters more magnanimous members on the BoT.

Can they really stop you from (or penalize you in any way for) reporting a crime?

[Ned Hamford]

Can they really stop you from (or penalize you in any way for) reporting a crime?

Penalize, Always.  Violate the groupthink, no matter how heinous, and find yourself playing both pariah and scapegoat.

[Hawkmoon]

I wish I was allowed to do that.  We can politely ask someone to leave, but that's about it.

Nope ... that's not about it.

Once you ask them to leave, if they do NOT leave they are committing criminal trespass, and you can then call the police and have them arrested.

[Hawkmoon]

I agree.

I was raised by a guy who habitially says "sir" and "ma'am", holds the door for others and practices general politeness towards strangers, and I do the same.
At work, the customer in the building is given my full attention and the one on the phone gets to wait, but only after a polite "please hold". And greeting and a cheerful fairwell are mandatory.

Its not even hard or all consuming. Its just having nice manners and its easy enough.

However ... moderation is all things is crucial.

My bank recently adopted a policy that ALL customers MUST be greeted with a "Welcome to Wazoo" immediately upon entering. The result is that, if I walk in when every single employee is constructively engaged with other customers, I'll hear a cheery, "Welcome to Wazoo" wafting across the room from some teller at the farthest end of the line. In the time I waste trying to identify the source of the disembodied voice, I could have completed my transaction and departed.

Or ... I may be sitting down with the customer service drone of the day at her desk (is it only my bank, or do all banks refer to a desk on the same floor level as the rest of the building as  the "platform"?), and right in the middle of our conversation she'll stop mid-sentence to toss off a "Welcome to Wazoo" in the general direction of a new arrival.

I'm all in favor of politeness, and personal service. I like it that most of the tellers at my branch know me and greet me by name -- when I get my turn at the counter. This asinine greeting policy, on the other hand, is so blatantly phony and IMpersonal that I find it both annoying and insulting.

[Monkeyleg]

Hawkmoon, that sort of policy drives me bananas. I have to call banks and credit card companies daily, and far too many have instructed their customer service reps to say things such as, "Good morning. Thank you for calling XYZ Bank. How may I give you excellent service this morning?" Then, "Have I exceeded your expectations?"

I want to say, "by skipping the bull and getting to business. I'm busy", but I'm too nice.

[Strings]

>Once you ask them to leave, if they do NOT leave they are committing criminal trespass, and you can then call the police and have them arrested.<

Store policy can keep an employee from following this...

[vaskidmark]

However ... moderation is all things is crucial.

My bank recently adopted a policy that ALL customers MUST be greeted with a "Welcome to Wazoo" immediately upon entering. ....

So you don't go to Waffle House much, do you?

Of course, when it gets real busy and all you can hear is "Welcome to Waffle House!" someone will retaliate by going to the jukebox and playing "The Waffle House Song".    Good short-order cooks can distinguish between the voices of the real waitresses and the record, but inexperienced ones may end up with "scattered, smothered, and covered" all over the grill.

stay safe.

[roo_ster]

Can they really stop you from (or penalize you in any way for) reporting a crime?

Stop?  No.

Penalize? Perhaps. But the Salty & Unreconstructed Old Bastard contingent on the Board of Elders would likely back me.  The SUOBs are happy to keep things moving along, but get their dander up, and it's "Katie, bar the door."

Even if they did roust me, they would have to find a replacement.  I am not the working-est(1) guy on the BoT, but I do make things happen. 

Penalize, Always.  Violate the groupthink, no matter how heinous, and find yourself playing both pariah and scapegoat.

That's not quite how I'd describe the atmosphere on the BoT.  Worst politics is usually between two or more women getting catty.  (Hard to believe, I'm sure.) For my part, I don't care much HOW folk make things happen, just that what needs to get done, gets done.  To quote another member, "My way of doing it beats your way of not doing it."

As far as the yahoos parking in the fire lane, I have agitated a bit on the issue and we are to the point where we're going to contract with a towing service and post METAL(2) signs declaring "No Parking" with the towing service number.  I also want to contact the fire dept and see if they can run a drill to/in our gym.  I'd love to see something like this:









(1) One retired fellow who uses the church landscaping to try out his organic ideas makes the most happen, followed by the chairman.  Then, me.  Most others fill their chairs.

(2) Because the wonderful urban youths busted down the PLASTIC no parking signs and then ran over sprinkler heads.

[Ned Hamford]

The difference between can and will.   

Being able to know people and otherwise read the relevant group, quite handy.