[Noisebridge-discuss] Safety (was: Re: Unwelcome person at noisebridge

Mon Sep 20 15:51:19 UTC 2010

Something else which you (we) all need to consider is safety. It's one 
thing to identify "Dr. Bobby" as "less balanced" or "not excellent", 
it's another to find yourself alone at the space with someone who weighs 
twice as much as you, seems to have no fear of physical contact, and 
makes you feel threatened.

I think some discussion around this would be useful. E.g.

* Call the police sooner rather than later
* If you are one of the last two or three (or 5) people at NB, and you 
are about to leave, check in with the remaining people. Do they feel 
comfortable being the last one or two? Is anyone remaining making them 
feel the least bit uncomfortable?
* MAKE SURE THE GATE LOCKS ON THE WAY OUT! I have found the gate closed 
but not locked on a number of occasions
* Keep the front door locked,
* Is there a way to lock the elevator entrance?

Which brings up an interesting topic we've not discussed: How did "Dr. 
Bobby" get in in the first place?

Discussion, please (not that one ever needs to invite this on this list)

On 09/20/2010 07:32 AM, Shannon Lee wrote:
> This sounds like the guy -- he identified himself as Robert "Dr. Bobby"
> Owens.  He was wearing shorts and a floppy camping hat when I interacted
> with him on Friday.
>
> He's pretty obviously having some sort of manic episode; when I told him
> that he was acting crazy, he said, "Yeah, some people say manic, but
> really it's just powerful."  He spent a good deal of our conversation
> trying to map the rules and power structures of Noisebridge -- when I
> got there, he was trying to eject someone else, whom he said "made him
> uncomfortable."  He asked a lot of questions about process.
>
> The trick to getting him to leave was, as Robert described, patiently
> waiting out his delaying tactics (I also ended up waiting while he went
> to the bathroom and looked under various pieces of furniture for stuff
> he might have left -- he had a name for this procedure which included
> the word "quantum" ("quantum air scrubbing?").  He was pleasant, if
> incredibly chatty, and responded very well to simple expression of
> authority ("You have to leave now").
>
> So here's the warning:  I walked him out of the space and down the
> stairs, upon which he followed me, still chatting; I thought, great, the
> further from Noisebridge the better.  My plan was to wish him goodbye at
> the BART gate, but he had a BART ticket, and sat near but not next to
> me, having a loud conversation with himself.  When I got off, he was
> right there with me again, still talking.
>
> I was meeting Andy for lunch, so I walked to his office, and used
> building security as a filter to scrape Dr. Bobby off me.  When Andy and
> I left through the back door, he was engaged in a verbal altercation
> with building security.
>
> Andy later discovered that he'd claimed that I had stolen his cell
> phone, and insisted that the police be called; when they arrived, they
> recognized him and took him away.  I bought the security guard a box of
> See's.
>
> So in conclusion:  Dr. Bobby does respond to being escorted, politely,
> firmly, and patiently out the door, but you are best off retreating back
> inside once you've escorted him out; and so far, he comes back.  Calling
> SFPD seems to be the most expedient way to get rid of him.
>
> Oh, and by the way, on Friday Dr Bobby and I made a deal that he
> wouldn't come back until Monday; you can see how well that worked out.
>
> --S
>
> PS, if you have the chance, ask him about his theory on the sentience of
> water.
>
> On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 10:29 PM, Robert Fletcher
> <lobatifricha at gmail.com <mailto:lobatifricha at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     We kicked someone by a similar description out of Noisebridge
>     Saturday afternoon.  He was climbing on desks, rooting through
>     boxes, ranting at no one in particular and generally making a
>     nuisance of himself.  He was clearly beyond the level of imbalance
>     we typically see at the space and seemed to be a danger to himself
>     and others.  He was wearing a hospital gown and a skirt around his
>     waist, neither of which hid much.  I gather his name is Robert
>     (Bobby) Owens.  Others said they have seen him at the space before,
>     though he seemed more subdued and sane on prior occasions.
>
>     --Fletch
>
>
>     On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 9:45 PM, Hephaestus <hephaestus at antipunk.net
>     <mailto:hephaestus at antipunk.net>> wrote:
>
>         As we were leaving 2169 tonight, a man was coming into the space who
>         was obviously unwelcome. Several members asked me to escort him
>         out of
>         the space, and when I tried he got very hostile, loud, and
>         disruptive.
>         Some members were obviously afraid of this man, and he was
>         behaving in
>         an agressive manner while following them around the space very
>         closely. When he failed to leave after several requests, we
>         called the
>         police. The police eventually arrived, exclaiming 'NOT YOU AGAIN!',
>         and quickly escorted him away.
>
>         He is 5'9, approximately 160lbs, Caucasian, balding white hair
>         trimmed
>         very short, in his early to mid 50's, wearing an olive drab
>         jacket, a
>         yellow tie-died dress, brown cut off pants, flip flops, and a pastel
>         blue baseball cap with a pink flower on it. If anybody got a picture
>         it'd be helpful.
>
>           He is the person Shannon had to remove the other morning. Is
>         he the
>         person who showed up this morning without pants?
>
>         (p.s. Rubin, I fully expect you to carry out your threat to
>         'punch the
>         next person who calls the police to noisebridge.' It was me.)
>
>         --
>         Hephaestus
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>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
> --
> Shannon Lee
> (503) 539-3700
>
> "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
>
>
>
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