I recall spending some time in southern Siberia, in the city of Chita. I
saw a few missing manhole covers right in the middle of the street: the
Russians carefully drove or walked around them (and the large potholes).
The did the same with uneven cracks in the sidewalk, etc. They basically
paid attention to risks and hazards around them, and adjusted. In the
US, there seems to be this presumtion that 'somebody' has made it safe
to walk around in a blindfold with earplugs.....

A couple of teammates were scared of how the eastern Russians drove down
the roads: if there was an opening, they took it. To the Yanks, it
looked like random and chaotic. I think the Russian drivers had a better
assessment of the traffic flow. And the general attitude I came across
was one of near total personal liability: if you got hurt or your
property damaged, if it was influenced by your personal choices, why
were you complaining?

I used to work in a zoo. When I read about people who jump into animal
enclosures and get injured, I have no sympathy. Well, yes, I do. The
animal may have been traumatized by this gate crasher.

Still leaves us with the question: how do we anticipate actions so
stupid they would never occur to us?
(Would never occur to me to roll down the window in an African lion
drive-through enclosure and hold my three month old baby up in the
window to show it the kitties.....or to 'charge' a male white rhino in a
brand new Porsche to get him off the road.....)

Deb Fuller wrote:

>It never ceases to amaze me at how "protected" we think the American public
>should be. In other countries, it is assumed that people are smart enough not
>to slide down banisters, walk off of cliffs, keep back from ledges, not lean
>too far out of windows or over walls and generally not go where they are not
>supposed to in the first place. I'm constantly surprised at how few protective
>devices are on historic buildings and other sites in Europe.
>
>For example, at the Roman bath in Bath, you can walk right up to the main bath
>and even jump in if you were stupid enough. There are no chains, guards or
>fences to keep you from doing so - only a sign that says please be careful
>around the bath. (I was a tacky American and stuck my finger in the water. :)
>In America, you probably couldn't get within 10 feet of the bath and it would
>be roped with chains and large signs about the dangers of drowning.
>
>So why is it in America, we have to constantly protect people from doing
>obviously stupid things - like sliding down a banister, while in other
>countries, it's assumed that you have a modicum of intelligence not to do so?
>
>Deb
>

--
James F. Johnson
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================================================================
"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but
the silence of our friends."- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

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