Dam!
On a trip to Ladybower dam in Derbyshire, we stood in a group around a man who was explaining how it worked. Dials and wheels were everywhere.

As he spoke, my nine year old brain thought it would be interesting to reach out and see how easy it was to turn one of the huge hand-wheels. They were well oiled and easy to turn, especially the one which opened up the dam gates for an entire lake to flow away...

... which was when I became aware of the silence around me. The man had stopped talking and was looking at me with dumb incredulity. "WHAT ARE DOING?" he asked.

"I just wanted to see--"

"Do you want to open the flood gates?"

The walls closed in and my teacher hustled me out of the room to tell me that she'd never been so ashamed. Bitch. She made us read the Bible in class because she was a Christian. She also made us confess all of our crimes and discovered, among other things, a shop-lifting ring and that Jackie had an incontinence problem (which she NEVER lived down after that).
(frankspencer, Thu 7 Dec 2006, 12:21, Reply)