Kaonashi Ga Suki

I found this Navy safety center website, which contains photos featuring people doing really, really unsafe things in the name of convenience, laziness, indifference, or ignorance. It’s amazing to see what people are capable are doing. One of the more interesting submissions involve the geniuses who stack ladders on top of each other to make them longer while they work on a roof, or some other really high place.

On some occasions I personally have witnessed stupid, unsafe things people have done. I cringe to imagine what would happen if and when their luck runs out. For example, in escalators at shopping malls there are always signs posted at the entrance warning that strollers are not supposed to be used on them. It makes perfect sense. What sane, caring mother with any intelligence would risk her child’s life by forcing a stroller onto an escalator? Yet I’ve seen time and time again mothers and fathers driving the strollers onto the escalator with their baby still attached to it, confident that they can prevent the stroller in time from hurtling down the escalator while knocking other innocent people off it. I don’t understand why these parents can’t find a safer way of going up and down floors. If there is more than one adult, one person can hold on the baby while the other can hold on to the folded up stroller. That way, baby makes it SAFELY to the destination. If there’s only one parent available, then use the elevator, for god’s sake! Is an infant’s life worth the five minutes that it takes to hunt down an elevator or fold up a stroller? The problem has nothing to do with sign visibility- these warning signs are often large, in bright red on yellow or white background. Also, it has nothing to do with language barriers- I’ve seen many signs in another language; furthermore, the sign is often accompanied by a graphic. Surely people understand pictures, right?

Another dangerously stupid thing I’ve often seen people do occurs near my house. I live in a gated community, and outside the gate is a very long, wide, winding stretch of road where the average speed is 50mph. The odd thing is that in spite of the nice, wide sidewalk, many joggers like to jog right on the street! Sometimes they’re practically in the middle of the road! And when you honk at them to get them to move, THEY actually get mad at YOU- how dare you try to drive on their street! What’s even more frightening is that at times the women joggers are even pushing strollers on the road! I have no idea why the road with the whizzing cars is so much more appealing to these people than the nice, safe sidewalk. Is the asphalt more comfortable to run on than concrete? I don’t know.

I know of two other incidents that, while weren’t really dangerous, are still examples of people ignoring the rules. Both instances occurred in Japan. The first story was when I was at Narita airport. Now, for those who don’t know, many Japanese are avid smokers. They will much smoke pretty much wherever they damn well please, even when there is an obvious “No Smoking�? sign. I was riding the escalator when I noticed the man in front of me light up a cigarette. He casually puffed his cigarette even though several large universal symbols for “No Smoking�? (the red circle and slash on the cigarette) were located right on the escalator arm. I wish I had a picture. The second incident took place near my old place of work. Take a look at the picture. This was a small area outside my building that clearly had a “no bicycles�? sign on it- recognizable in any language. But lo and behold- what do we see? Several bicycles parked here! Truly, truly unbelievable.

Have you witnessed any stupid human tricks as well? Tell your story.

Navy safety center, stupid people, Narita Airport