Keys and Badge Idiocy

Thank you to the majority of LFGC members who manage to get through membership, year after year without foisting upon leadership the serial replacement of a lost key or badge. Thank you for being responsible. 95% of the membership who receive a key and badge at Orientation or mailed to them for renewal get to year-end without losing the key and asking for a replacement.

 We do however, acknowledge things happen the key (and badge)may become lost or damaged due to any number of miscellaneous unforeseen circumstances. We  thus provide a means to obtain a replacement of a badge and key and we're happy to accommodate those rare circumstances.

 Inversely, we also acknowledge that a handful of members will inevitably lose the club key within the first five minutes of receipt. But that is a personal organization flaw, not a club flaw. Consequently, we've even built that micro-idiocy into our metric of key replacement. We will pointedly address any need for subsequently key and badge replacements after LFGC has issued one and issued a replacement and the member comes back for another.

 LFGC Secretary Steve Cox does absolute Yeoman's work in organization and efficiency when getting out keys and cards for renewals. I would dare to say his error rate is less than one-half of a per cent. The United States Postal Service does lose about nearly a dozen keys and cards sent out at renewal time. When that occurs we proactively make a correction.

2022, however,  has been absolutely, "off the charts," in terms of lost keys, broken locks and replacement badges. We've had a handful of members whom have sought to replace their cards and keys for a third time and the leadership looks critically at that. Summarily, more time than is reasonable has been spent on this single issue of minutia.

One trending  and recurring issue that is particularly bothersome are those few folks who attempt to use a prior years' key only to subsequently call us to tell us either the lock is deficient or their key is defective. It seems lost on those folks, no matter how ubiquitous we talk about lock changes every year, THEY SIMPLY DON'T GET IT (or choose not to).

We had several incidences where people have sprayed all manner of lubricants into the club locks (one was even going to use liquid soap) when the primary problem was THEY SIMPLY HAD THE WRONG KEY.

 Having the wrong key also means the member, out of frustration and lack of patience,  simply applies more pressure, either bending the key or snapping it off in the lock, thereby rending the lock useless to the other members.

 Applying more pressure has never worked...Nor will it ever work in the future. The lock pins ultimately become stressed over time and eventually the lock will not function. That creates a problem for members with the correct key because now their key really does not function.

 So here I am...once writing the "dumb stuff." The stuff that 95% of the membership gets while the other 5% is too dumb or too self important or too distracted to pay attention to or simply manage on their own....

 EACH KEY IS STAMPED WITH A SINGLE DIGIT. THE SINGLE DIGIT DENOTES THE PARTICULAR MEMBERSHIP YEAR. FOR EXAMPLE, ALL KEYS BEING USED NOW, ARE STAMPED WITH A "2"...AS IN "2022".

 JANUARY 1, 2023, WE WILL CHANGE THE LOCKS. THE KEYS WILL ALL BE STAMPED WITH A "3", DENOTING MEMBERSHIP YEAR 2023.  USING A "2" KEY IN 2023 WILL BE DEEMED AS, "NOT A WINNING STRATEGY." IT WILL GET YOU NOWHERE.

The timing for sending this email coincides with the fact that in 10 more days the renewal period for 2023 opens. We will be sending out Cards and keys for 2023 membership year.

WHEN YOU RECEIVE YOUR 2023 KEY, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE IT UNTIL AFTER JANUARY 1, 2023.

We always have a handful of members who chuck their keys and try to use the renewal key. Please keep the key in a safe place until January 1, 2023.

It is my hope that members will render assistance to other members they find at the gate challenged and struggling with keys and locks. I am also hoping in 2023 that the board and officers can spend less time managing locks and key minutia.

 Sincerely,

LONDONDERRY FISH & GAME CLUB, INC.

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