1225fan5358 wrote:They love hiring railfans. By that I mean those who are interested in trains and ones who see a bright future in the industry. However, they do not hire those who are so into trains they may get distracted. "Foamers" would easily get distracted and the safety of others could be in jeopardy. Source from trains article interviewing an NS HR representative.
If such stereotyping was said about someone's sexual orientation in their hiring process, the railroad would be crucified. A gay person can't help that they are attracted to a person of the same sex anymore then a foamer can help having a passion for trains. They make assumptions without stating any facts or statistics backing them up. My friend's son is a foamer who has worked for a few railroads. He told me in his experience on the job that about half of the workers hate foamers or find them annoying. The other half either don't mind them or find them to simply be trackside oddities.
I think this is a case of PERCEPTION clearly trumping REALITY. Simply the foamer haters not wanting them amongst their working ranks. Unless they can show me some clear evidence of all these self-professed foamers that have caused the MAJORITY of accidents, I call BS big time!
I hate unions, so I could never work for railroads cuz you are forced to join one. But even if I was able to stomach joining a union, it ticks me off they would force me to lie to them about my passion for trains in order to get the job. Kinda reminds me of the whole Don't ask, Don't tell policy thing in the past......except they DO ASK if you love trains and you CAN'T TELL them yes if you want the job. Just sad!
