Cheap TatOneEyedMonster remindes us about the crap you can buy in pound shops: "Batteries that lasted about an hour and then died. A screwdriver with a loose handle so I couldn't turn the damn screw, and a tape measure which wasn't at all accurate."
Similarly, my neighbour bought a lawnmower from Argos that was so cheap the wheels didn't go round, it sort of skidded over the grass whilst gently back-combing it.
What's the cheapest, most useless crap you've bought?
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chthonic, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 7:26)
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I will leave with this one...Okay, you define the action as inherently and irrevocably 'dangerous'. I don't. The reasoning behind this comes from the relative definitions of 'hazard' and 'risk'.
The action of standing in front of a speeding train is not in itself dangerous, as long as you move before you get splatted. Stupid maybe, but that's not the issue.
Riding a knackered bike without a helmet at 10 mph is in itself inherently dangerous to one person only, and that is the rider. There is only a risk of injury to another party if they are there in the path of the bike.
If he had belted it through a crowded playground, I'd be gathering the metaphorical internet kindling already. If he was in the back street without anyone around (and you'd have to be a numpty not to try this without finding somewhere quiet so YOU DIDN'T GET CAUGHT) then there was no risk to anyone but himself.
When I first read the tale, I got the image of a couple of lads in a deserted street, away from prying eyes giving a bike a quick blat (and without a helmet, at 14, 10mph would have felt scaaaary) and as such the needle on my moral-outrage-ometer didn't even quiver. Your mental image must have been of the high speed messenger of death weaving in and out of the massed playgroup, possibly waving a battleaxe as well.
However, in the last few years, the yoof seem to be of the opinion that they CAN ride bikes/quads/karts/motos any where the fuck they like (rather than finding a quiet spot and hence avoiding a clip round the ear) and will treat any attempt to stop them as an assault on their personal freedoms and dignity even when they are doing something that is genuinely dangerous to others. Maybe that's the image you got. Who knows? If it really grips you that much, you can always click the ignore button.
However, he got caught and royally bollocked at the very least. Doesn't that satisfy the fight for internet justice? Do we really need the flaming torches? Or should everyone go and have a nice drinkie-poo and calm the fuck down? There's considerably worse stuff on this board and no-one seems to give a chuff, so....
(Anyway they should have nicked him for being a Geordie. Bound to be guilty of something.)
(, Tue 8 Jan 2008, 18:20, Reply)
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