Deb I think the reason for what you describe is simply that in America you can be sued for negligence, even if someone does something that is completely stupid and beyond common reason. In other countries, such as NZ where I live, you could not sue anyone for your own stupidity, even if they didn't explicitly warn you of the danger of "jumping off the tall building, which may result in serious injury or even death", to use a silly example. In short, in America you are forced to protect yourself from punishment for the stupidity of others in your museum (or whatever) whereas elsewhere in the world we leave people alone to be as dumb as they choose to be without risk of litigation against us. That being said, I am sure the rest of the world will catch up with you one day which is why I am encouraging my daughters to go to law school (-: Greg Greg McManus Director Rotorua Museum of Art & History Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa Government Gardens Rotorua NEW ZEALAND www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz Tel. 64+7+349 4350 Fax. 64+7+349 2819 027 271 4328 -----Original Message----- From: Deb Fuller [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Monday, 12 May 2003 1:13 p.m. To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Tragedy at a Chicago museum --- "James F. Johnson" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > So, how do you anticipate stupid actions by others unless you can look > at the features of your museum with the same 'stupid' mindset and ease > of temptation? On a philosphical level, does not legal liability, if we > are assigned it, require us to be at least as stupid as those at risk? 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 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo. http://search.yahoo.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CAUTION - This message may contain privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are notified that any use, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this message is prohibited; If you have received this message in error please notify the sender immediately via return email and erase all copies of this message and attachments. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of Rotorua District Council. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).