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| The Illuminated Fountain, Marine Parade, Great Yarmouth. Photograph by Albert Burnett 1937 |
It's all this health and safety business, it's ruining modern life. You can't have a tree in a park any more without having to have a sign saying there is a danger the tree might fall over or an apple might drop on your head. Just think, if Newton had paid attention to the health and safety brigade we would never have had gravity - and where would we have been then? Hurtling around space no doubt. Look at the old Sepia prompt image and what do you see? There is a fountain and lots of people wandering around in silly hats, none of whom have fallen into the fountain and drowned. And look at the modern picture and what is there dominating the scene but a great big cast iron sign saying "Danger". You would never have seen that in the good old days.
DANGER: Please step carefully over to the Sepia Saturday Blog and pay attention as you follow the links to see what other people are posting this week (please note, some of the images you will see will be old)
Where's the health warning on your blog?
ReplyDeleteWhere's the health warning on your blog?
ReplyDeleteI had to read your post a couple of times before realising what you meant by the modern picture. 1937 is not really all that modern. Somehow it reminds me of the amusement caused amongst students of admin law when told by the lecturer about the regulation which provided that if you had an erection in middle of the street, you had to hang a sign on it. (Please delete if not considered suitable.)
ReplyDeleteI put on a hard hat and a safety belt before I read your blog, but I still felt a little unsafe. You didn't warn us that we might need glasses to read the danger sign. A very funny and daring take on the theme. I hope no animals were used while you were writing it and one more thing...it hasn't been rated as - GP, or adult or whatever. Risky business.
ReplyDeleteThe safety people certainly do get carried away. However, it's the lawyers who worry the safety people.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the next step is to just eliminate the dangerous trees. Then I suppose they would need a sign telling people to avoid sitting in the dangerous sun.
ReplyDeleteI just had two large trees removed from my property by the city because a few people were scared of the hazardous limbs on that tree. I have always said that you don't go out and stand under a tree during a wind storm but they didn't ask for any warnings. All is gone and now I can see my neighbors trees across the street standing tall, ready to fall on me.
ReplyDeleteWe do laugh at all the safety rules that abound today that did not 'yesterday' when we grew up safe & sound standing under trees or, say, riding bikes, roller skating, or racing down hills on our Flexie Flyers with no helmets, knee or elbow pads, & shin guards, etc. to protect us. The modern rules truly are in our best interest, of course, & we all know it. It's just that things were so less complicated a generation or so ago. Goes for all the sports rules existing today, as well. Some are welcome, but some border on being so ridiculous one wonders if the game - as it once was played - will even exist in the future.
ReplyDeleteIt's a mad mad world allright. Much sympathy with your issues LD - most of the trees have been moved from our property too leaving us a bit exposed and cheerless.
ReplyDeleteI wonder who has invented the Nanny state; like we were all halfwits.
ReplyDeleteWe have a little piece of land with trees and wild flowers and room for children to play a little football or tag (if they are still allowed to run around that is). One of the mummies wants all the brambles removed because little Joe or Marc or Heath got scratched. Oh dear. We said no. It' s a wild area not meant to be manicured. What happened to learning not to get scratched by taking better care next time?
ReplyDeleteBesides no brambles means no flowers so no source of nourishment for the bees, and no fruit means no food for the birds. Or the children. Who are probably forbidden to pick wild fruits because they might be poisonous or have dog wee on then. Sigh.
Surely that’s not the same one that became a boating lake (as in my 21st Jan blogpost). That was Great Yarmouth too. Perhaps they just went in for lots of lakes, fountains etc at that time.
ReplyDeleteDanger lurks everywhere you turn these days. My favorite British warning sign was placed on a rooftop seen below a high pedestrian bridge on the South Bank. "This Area Is Alarmed!"
ReplyDeleteDidn't you hit the nail on the head with this post, Alan! Instead of teaching care, caution, and respect these days, the answer is to regulate the dickens out of everything. Ha! (But maybe it's not like that in Britain?)
ReplyDelete