"I see stupid people!" or "spot the blithering idiot"
Firstly, a big thanks to Bruce (E Maculata) for providing the title for this thread :)
I've been on a well earned break at Burleigh heads for the last two weeks and I've seen lots of stupid people/blithering idiots. There's probably plenty at home too, but I don't actually get out that much so I probably miss most of them.
Went to a large shopping complex today (which is probably a prime place to find stupid people). Running through the paved plaza type area that runs between all the shops were ribbons of bright tile shards. Now I'm assuming some blithering idiot of an architect came up with that one. Nothing wrong with it aesthetically, however the brightly coloured tile pieces were all finished in a very smooth glaze. Normally outdoor or wet area tiles are finished in a matt glaze or have grit embedded in them to provide grip when wet. These ones were very glossy and, because of the rain, extremely slippery. I almost went base over apex several times and I'm reasonably sure footed.
At one stage we came across a eatery employee who had just had a fall. She was lying on the ground in an extremely awkward position. A couple with two kids had stopped to offer assistance. She could barely wriggle the fingers on one hand and felt a lot of pain in that arm. I was thinking concussion, broken collar bone, dislocated shoulder and possibly worse. The couple said that someone had gone to get help so I turned to go, figuring that there was nothing I could add.
"Help" turned up in the form of the victim's boss, who proceeded to haul on the woman's other arm :eek: to get her up (and presumably back to work :eek: :eek: ). I exercised remarkable restraint and did not give him a swift clip on the ear for his valiant help. Instead I yelled at him to stop, pointing out that she was in obvious pain and had not asked to be moved. The couple also joined in telling him to stop and wait for the ambulance to arrive. He seemed quite suprised at our outburst. I explained to him that until we knew the extent of her injuries she should not be moved. His reply was that when the ambo's came they'd move her anyway. I politely pointed out that they wouldn't just yank on her good arm and tell her to get up and that he really didn't want to lift her. I may have used some threatening body language at this stage :D to bring home my point.
Anyway while this was going on a woman turned up and started examining the victim, from her actions I believed she had medical training, certainly more than just first aid training too. I decided to leave before I clocked the employer one. ;)
What was this guy thinking :confused: :confused: :confused: . It seems to be that so many people are incapable of actually solving a problem or dealing with an unfamiliar situation. Sure, unless you've done first aid no one will actually spell out to you that you shouldn't move an injured person without assessing their injuries first, but surely even a very stupid person would understand that hauling on a persons arm when they're lying on the ground is going to be rather uncomfortable at best, especially if they're hurt.
You can do courses for almost everything nowadays, and it seems that you need to be trained for even the simplest of tasks before you will be considered for employment. Maybe we need a training course in how to use what's between the ears. Common sense 101 maybe? I learnt a lot about the limitations of the human body as a kid by climbing trees, riding bikes, jumping, swinging, running and falling, lots of falling.
Do we really need to tell people that they may burn themselves on hot things, sharp things can injure, diving into shallow water may see you in a wheelchair forever and that you shouldn't specify slippery tiles for a public outdoor area?
Like Bruce, I see stupid people :mad:
Mick