Don’t Be Such an Idiot

As I suspected, I haven’t had near the amount of time to post on the blog while I’m over here in Europe. No complaints from me, but I did have a minute right now, and I came across a perfect topic for a nice quick post. The theme?

Don’t be an idiot.

Not like people want to be idiots in general, I realize. But Denisa and I took Tomas to go see an old socialist elevator today. I took a video of it, and it’s up on my Facebook page. (Sorry–no time or easy way to post it here. But my Facebook page is public.) Why would we go all touristy for an elevator?

Because it’s not really an elevator. It’s a paternoster. And you don’t get the chance to see one of those very often, let alone actually ride one. I’d checked it out a few years ago, and I still remembered it being really cool. I wasn’t let down.

For those of you too lazy to click the links (shame on you!), a paternoster is a continually moving elevator that you step on and step off. Think of it as a sort of a hybrid between an elevator and an escalator. And then add a flair for danger. There’s no possible way I could imagine one of these being built in America, let alone used. They’re illegal in most of Europe, after all. Here in Trencin? There’s a sign in the lobby that says kids under 10 aren’t allowed on it, and the elderly and disabled shouldn’t use it.

Not like there’s any sort of enforcement, of course.

I marveled to Denisa that they’d allow something like this to just be out there to be used by the public. Wouldn’t it kill people? It seems the sort of thing that would have a thousand law suits getting in line the moment someone cut the ribbon for the grand opening.

Denisa shrugged. “People know they shouldn’t be stupid on it. If they are, then it’s their fault.”

It’s a refreshing concept. What if all the legal disclaimers in America were replaced by a simple “Don’t be an idiot” statement? I suppose there’d need to be a footnote in there somewhere, detailing all the different things “idiot” encompasses . . .

But one can always dream.

In the meantime, we had a great time on the paternoster, and not one of us was maimed, injured, or killed. I call that a successful day.