A very educated man asked me, "What are y'all taking pictures of???"
I replied to him, "Seriously??? I have a camera on my cell phone, and you think we got that fancy tripod and that big ole yellow thingy to take pictures with??? come on man?"
very educated man, "I guess that was a stupid question, cameras have not been that large since the early 1900s.... and I have had one on my cell phone since 99.
The gentlemen was very interested in what I had going on, so I explained to him how the robot worked, let him look through it, and showed him the data collector. We had a lot in common and talked for about 30 minutes then...
ME , wanna get a beer? it is 5 oclock"
very educated man, "sure, my treat for being ignorant"
MORAL of the story... never miss a good opportunity to make a friend or be friendly. I know most of you here think I am not a friendly person, but that is my surveyor internet message board alter ego 😉 I am really a nice guy.
Lady on the street, very belligerent: Now these photos you are taking, am I going to be able to view these at the town hall?
Me, standing at the gun: ...um...yes...yes you will.
Lady: And just who do I ask about these photos?
Me: You can ask the keeper of the surveyor photos. They should be in the secret survey vault. Ask them to take you there.
She then storms off without a thankyou.
Had she been nicer, so would've I.
-V
> Lady on the street, very belligerent: Now these photos you are taking, am I going to be able to view these at the town hall?
"No Ma'am, We are taking these pictures for a Chinese Investment company that is considering buying the town. But, If you wish to go to China, I can give you the name of my contact there."
LOL 😀
I gots to remember that one!
Like the china thing better than my standby of, "doing preliminary surveying for an international airport but don't tell anyone, the public is not supposed to know about it yet". Seldom get to the not telling part
jud
Got to know your audience.
In the first week of my surveying career, we went to survey a power line ROW.
The line ran very close to an old farm house. When we arrived, the lady of the house came out and offered us tea or coffe.
The party chief explained that it was amazing how nice she was under the circumstances.
Those being that when the control survey was being run, the party chief at that time told her husband that they were running a new 345 KV line right next to his house and he had a tantrum and dropped dead later that morning.
Just goes to show that we need to show some common sense when dealing with owners. Can have a little fun with the passer buy, spring the joke, admit that it was a joke and explain what you are doing, usually everyone leaves happy.
jud
While working in downtown Nashville a number of years ago I was taking my backsight and a guy stumbles out of the corner bar. This was right around the corner from the old Ryman Theater. He had obviously had a few and eh caught a glimpse of me looking through the scope. "What'cha taking pictures of? Hey, you seem like a Civil kind of guy.....GET IT?"
i did, i chuckled...
if i had a nickel for every time someone asked me that i wouldn't have to keep surveying.
was having some fun doing a topo survey near an elementary school, kids wanted to know what were doing, so we told them we were surveying to build a new arcade next door. kids went on into school just bubbling with excitement, which seemed harmless until the school principal came out asking us about this supposed "arcade". he was not too happy with us for putting the little ones on - we were just there to locate the existing fireline easement and facilities for ingress/egress. have told the truth or very little ever since.
Had a boss a long time ago (a bit of a curmudgeon) who when asked by a bunch of teenagers what he was doing answered "minding my own business, you should try it sometime".
I stopped to ask a guy what he was doing today..
So, I guess it was my turn. Leica RTK setup on the causeway heading off the island. No big deal, but then I see the rover attached to a jet ski in the water. I pull off and start talking to the crew there. Turns out they aren't surveying, but testing the limits of the jet ski. (He called it a boat). they have the ski rigged up with gyros and all kinds of electro testing stuff that syncs the data with the position and attitude of the ski. Pretty neat stuff. Weird thing, the engineer guy I was talking to looked just like a surveyor, same Tilley hat I wear and everything. I assume they were manufacturer reps or a magazine of some sort.
What'cha doing?
Survey for underground airport..... 😉
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you...
Bunch of giddy young women one time asked if we would take their picture.
I said, "Sure, take off your tops."
awesome!
Okay, this is not really related, but it's my favorite and I've told it before:
20 years ago we were doing a survey of the local prosthetics store. Owner walks out and asks "How much is this going to cost?" Without missing a beat, my crew chief responds "An arm and a leg"
I generally run with "overhead plexiglass sewer line"!
Its common a person will walk up to you and ask "is this where the new 4 lane is going:-D ". With the as straight as face as possible, I say "yes:-/ ". Another response of mine is "this is where the nuclear regulatory comminsion is thinking about building a temporary storage facility". This results in :-O I then usually set the person straight.
'Hog Building" works for me, especially, with in a residential area.
Last week I was asked what was about to happen to the property I was on. I replied "It's about to be sold."