It's a small world - you will meet that other person ...
This campaign tip (no. 16) was published on Wednesday, 16th January 2019
I came across a video on YouTube the other day about a gas line fire in Texas that killed someone. Comment was made about "should I share the video" and a reply followed "please do - it was my dad who was killed and people need to know about these dangers".
When writing / commenting on something, publishing a picture, remember that the people concerned in your comments may well be reading or seeing what you have written, and with tightened interest bearing in mind their involvement. "That was me you were talking about" is not going to be uncommon in the rail campaigning community - but it comes too at a general public transport user level - and indeed for the man in the street too.
Closer to home ... one of the sad issues that crops up from time to time is "people hit by train". A train is a pretty dangerous, undetectable, unstoppable missile and sadly most people hit by trains don't survive. And most cases turn out to be suicides - such a high proportion that it's far to easy to make that assumption in a report, before the facts are known. but consider
• Sadly, people are also killed on the railway, hit by train, when the chase after their dog
• People can trip on a platform or pass out and fall into the track of a train
• It's not unknown for people to have been pushed
• it's also not unknown for something to go wrong with how a level crossing is worked
And in such situations ... well - the person involved won't be reading you but
• family and friends might
• the train driver might
• passengers, 'clean up crew', and the emergency services may read you
• and if it was someone pushed, the person who actually pushed might read to find out how much is known
Dramatic example - care needs to be taken in all postings ... I'm conscious of it with all my public posts, Facebook stuff, forum, and indeed articles in this series too.
Discussion via Coffee Shop forum
When writing / commenting on something, publishing a picture, remember that the people concerned in your comments may well be reading or seeing what you have written, and with tightened interest bearing in mind their involvement. "That was me you were talking about" is not going to be uncommon in the rail campaigning community - but it comes too at a general public transport user level - and indeed for the man in the street too.
Closer to home ... one of the sad issues that crops up from time to time is "people hit by train". A train is a pretty dangerous, undetectable, unstoppable missile and sadly most people hit by trains don't survive. And most cases turn out to be suicides - such a high proportion that it's far to easy to make that assumption in a report, before the facts are known. but consider
• Sadly, people are also killed on the railway, hit by train, when the chase after their dog
• People can trip on a platform or pass out and fall into the track of a train
• It's not unknown for people to have been pushed
• it's also not unknown for something to go wrong with how a level crossing is worked
And in such situations ... well - the person involved won't be reading you but
• family and friends might
• the train driver might
• passengers, 'clean up crew', and the emergency services may read you
• and if it was someone pushed, the person who actually pushed might read to find out how much is known
Dramatic example - care needs to be taken in all postings ... I'm conscious of it with all my public posts, Facebook stuff, forum, and indeed articles in this series too.
Discussion via Coffee Shop forum
