> When was the last time you saw train doors ruthlessly separate children from their parents? Have you seen anyone lose a limb to that ruthless guillotine?
It is also worth noting that those examples have a positive element as well. Train operators are too far from the doors to know when it is safe to depart. The closing of the train door ensures everyone is safely inside before the train can depart. Having a human operator who uses discretion at each door would only create a new set of problems, namely of train delays causing the entire system to grind to a halt (at best) and safety issues (at worse).
Likewise for the food dispenser guillotine. While the case described sounds poorly designed, the general idea behind those doors is to prevent thieves from leeching upon unsupervised vending machines. One may argue that a human could use discretion for when a person is truly starving. On the other hand, that after hours supply of junk food wouldn't exist without vending machines since the labour involved would make it too expensive. It is also worth noting that a real human would rarely hand out food that is not their food to give away.
As a side note: I also detest the use of the term jobsworth to describe something the author doesn't agree with. More often than not, those rules exist for a reason. While preventing the submission of a form a second late is not one of them, encouraging the submission of the form in a timely manner is. There are many people behind the scenes who need to get their job done for the benefit of those who filled out those forms in a timely manner.
It is also worth noting that those examples have a positive element as well. Train operators are too far from the doors to know when it is safe to depart. The closing of the train door ensures everyone is safely inside before the train can depart. Having a human operator who uses discretion at each door would only create a new set of problems, namely of train delays causing the entire system to grind to a halt (at best) and safety issues (at worse).
Likewise for the food dispenser guillotine. While the case described sounds poorly designed, the general idea behind those doors is to prevent thieves from leeching upon unsupervised vending machines. One may argue that a human could use discretion for when a person is truly starving. On the other hand, that after hours supply of junk food wouldn't exist without vending machines since the labour involved would make it too expensive. It is also worth noting that a real human would rarely hand out food that is not their food to give away.
As a side note: I also detest the use of the term jobsworth to describe something the author doesn't agree with. More often than not, those rules exist for a reason. While preventing the submission of a form a second late is not one of them, encouraging the submission of the form in a timely manner is. There are many people behind the scenes who need to get their job done for the benefit of those who filled out those forms in a timely manner.