Hi,
we have just returned from our holidays in Wales/GB yesterday. We have met a lot of friendly people and enjoyed a tremendous countryside, but one thing struck me as really odd and completely different from what I'm used to at home: The high number and inflationary use of warning signs.
On our first evening we drove into a small town to eat something in a restaurant and drink our first Guinness or two. On the car park, there was a huge, red warning sign: "Have you properly locked you car? Have you left any valuable items in it? Thieves might break into your car and steal them! Don't let that happen to you!", complemented with a funny drawing of a thief breaking open a car. Now if I encounter a warning sign at home, most of the time there's a reason for it being there and I tend to give attention to the warning, so I thought maybe car breaks are increasing in the area and double-checked if I had really locked the car.
We entered the pub and ordered two beers. While waiting, I noticed another warning, yellow this time: "Don't leave your drink unattended! You don't know what others might put in while you're not looking!" (or something like this), with another funny drawing of a hand dropping a dangerous-looking substance into a glass. Hmmm...makes sense, now that everyone locks their cars properly, drug addicts probably are forced to create more addicts to make money...and I closely watched my drink the whole evening, which slightly interfered with my social life, but so be it.
Next up was the inevitable walk to the toilet. On the way, I saw a note pinned to a wall, telling me what to do in case of a barroom brawl (leave the bar, call the police), and that in case I should start one, I would no longer be allowed to enter this restaurant, in addition to several others of the town as well (list of about 11 restaurants, including signatures from their owners, followed). Fair enough, no brawl for me tonight if we wanted to enjoy some more drinks in this town...
In the toilet, another sign (silver and blue this time) reminded me to wash my hands after using the toilet, to prevent dangerous germs from spreading around. At home we don't need to be reminded to do this, thank you very much! And it's not that our population is dying out because we don't have these signs.
Approaching the water taps. Above one, big fat black letters besides a red triangle with a big exclamation mark could be seen. Must be something important - better read it! "Warning! Hot Water!". Oh.
Next day, we walked some miles of a well-known long distance trail along the beautiful Welsh coastline. On the start of the track, another sign: "Cliffs Kill! Don't leave the path!", with another priceless drawing of a human falling off a high cliff. Fair enough, I'll be cautious not to walk too near the cliffs. But when that warning sign was repeated every 200 meters, I really got annoyed!
We encountered a lot more of this ("Tiredness kills! Take a break!" on motorways, "Report suspicious luggage or left-alone bags! It might contain a bomb!" on railway stations, ...), and I got the impression that Great Britain is a Really Dangerous Country to live in (which, of course, is nonsense). But the best of all was when some day I heard an ad from the government on the radio about the Preparing for Emergencies booklet they would send to all households in the UK, describing how to act in case of an emergency. It has some really great advice like, "If a bomb goes off in your building, look for the safest way out", or (the best of all), "Think before you act". I have to admit I like this booklet a lot better. ;-)
What I ask myself is, what effect has the inflationary use of warnings or such a booklet on society? If I have to see warnings of thieves and bombs every day, or if I get such a booklet like the above sent to me by the government, what happens? Will I become indifferent and numb out on these warnings, no longer taking them serious, as happened with me and the thousands of "speed camera" warnings we encountered in Wales? Or will they create an atmosphere of fear and paranoia, and my senses of what could be dangerous to me and what not might get warped? Some months ago, our newspaper quoted a study where a poll was made among the population about what was considered harmful for one's health or life. Then this was compared to a list "experts" (whatever that means) had made on the same subject, and the difference was striking. Most poeple rated terrorist attacks, getting fatally ill from BSE, getting subjected to murder/rape and similar fears much more dangerous than the banal threats like household accidents, smoking, eating too fat etc. which are a lot more harmful to us in reality. Surely most people do have a warped sense of what might be dangerous to them, and I ask myself if campaigns like the PEB booklet, whatever the real reason for this campaign might be, do more harm than they are useful. What do you think?
-Kylearan
we have just returned from our holidays in Wales/GB yesterday. We have met a lot of friendly people and enjoyed a tremendous countryside, but one thing struck me as really odd and completely different from what I'm used to at home: The high number and inflationary use of warning signs.
On our first evening we drove into a small town to eat something in a restaurant and drink our first Guinness or two. On the car park, there was a huge, red warning sign: "Have you properly locked you car? Have you left any valuable items in it? Thieves might break into your car and steal them! Don't let that happen to you!", complemented with a funny drawing of a thief breaking open a car. Now if I encounter a warning sign at home, most of the time there's a reason for it being there and I tend to give attention to the warning, so I thought maybe car breaks are increasing in the area and double-checked if I had really locked the car.
We entered the pub and ordered two beers. While waiting, I noticed another warning, yellow this time: "Don't leave your drink unattended! You don't know what others might put in while you're not looking!" (or something like this), with another funny drawing of a hand dropping a dangerous-looking substance into a glass. Hmmm...makes sense, now that everyone locks their cars properly, drug addicts probably are forced to create more addicts to make money...and I closely watched my drink the whole evening, which slightly interfered with my social life, but so be it.
Next up was the inevitable walk to the toilet. On the way, I saw a note pinned to a wall, telling me what to do in case of a barroom brawl (leave the bar, call the police), and that in case I should start one, I would no longer be allowed to enter this restaurant, in addition to several others of the town as well (list of about 11 restaurants, including signatures from their owners, followed). Fair enough, no brawl for me tonight if we wanted to enjoy some more drinks in this town...
In the toilet, another sign (silver and blue this time) reminded me to wash my hands after using the toilet, to prevent dangerous germs from spreading around. At home we don't need to be reminded to do this, thank you very much! And it's not that our population is dying out because we don't have these signs.
Approaching the water taps. Above one, big fat black letters besides a red triangle with a big exclamation mark could be seen. Must be something important - better read it! "Warning! Hot Water!". Oh.
Next day, we walked some miles of a well-known long distance trail along the beautiful Welsh coastline. On the start of the track, another sign: "Cliffs Kill! Don't leave the path!", with another priceless drawing of a human falling off a high cliff. Fair enough, I'll be cautious not to walk too near the cliffs. But when that warning sign was repeated every 200 meters, I really got annoyed!
We encountered a lot more of this ("Tiredness kills! Take a break!" on motorways, "Report suspicious luggage or left-alone bags! It might contain a bomb!" on railway stations, ...), and I got the impression that Great Britain is a Really Dangerous Country to live in (which, of course, is nonsense). But the best of all was when some day I heard an ad from the government on the radio about the Preparing for Emergencies booklet they would send to all households in the UK, describing how to act in case of an emergency. It has some really great advice like, "If a bomb goes off in your building, look for the safest way out", or (the best of all), "Think before you act". I have to admit I like this booklet a lot better. ;-)
What I ask myself is, what effect has the inflationary use of warnings or such a booklet on society? If I have to see warnings of thieves and bombs every day, or if I get such a booklet like the above sent to me by the government, what happens? Will I become indifferent and numb out on these warnings, no longer taking them serious, as happened with me and the thousands of "speed camera" warnings we encountered in Wales? Or will they create an atmosphere of fear and paranoia, and my senses of what could be dangerous to me and what not might get warped? Some months ago, our newspaper quoted a study where a poll was made among the population about what was considered harmful for one's health or life. Then this was compared to a list "experts" (whatever that means) had made on the same subject, and the difference was striking. Most poeple rated terrorist attacks, getting fatally ill from BSE, getting subjected to murder/rape and similar fears much more dangerous than the banal threats like household accidents, smoking, eating too fat etc. which are a lot more harmful to us in reality. Surely most people do have a warped sense of what might be dangerous to them, and I ask myself if campaigns like the PEB booklet, whatever the real reason for this campaign might be, do more harm than they are useful. What do you think?
-Kylearan
There are two kinds of fools. One says, "This is old, and therefore good." And one says, "This is new, and therefore better." - John Brunner, The Shockwave Rider
