Demands for Maude to quit...

[Mad Doug Biker]

you do know he's... err.... a completely fictitious character right?

Yes, hence why I said 'Character'.

 

[Arch]

There is nothing more insulting than false sincerity though.

I don't tend to be falsely sincere. If I have low opinion of someone's intelligence, or opinion, I'm more likely to simply try and avoid too much interaction with them.

Well, I hope I'd challenge bad opinions, but I get frustrated too easily and tend to walk away for a quiet life. Depends as well whether it's someone I have to deal with repeatedly (like a colleague I have who is overly fond of daft conspiracy theories), in which case I'll try and placate more, or someone random I'll never have to see again, in which case I may be more contentious.

 

[pepecat]

You'd have thought that all the signs about switching engines off and not smoking at petrol stations might be an indication that petrol could be flammable, and therefore decanting it in a small space with a naked flame might not be such a good idea.

 

[betty swollocks]

She was human. It was a moment's inattention/stupidity/chance-taking.
We all do it sometimes and most often we get away with it.
She didn't: she was unlucky and and paid a high price.
Poor woman.

 

[asterix]

Part of the problem is people are protected so much these days that they never learn to deal with stuff. Which makes them especially vulnerable to the stuff they are protected from.

I agree.


Much of my working life has been spent in more dangerous environments than offices. As a student, loading lorries, on the docks in Harwich, including working in holds under cranes, then had a spell in a port workshop, then the Felixstowe docks. During which, people had accidents: the more serious included being crushed under a gangway, or between containers or under containers (all dead); one poor chap had his legs cut off by a shunting engine when crossing the line - his foot became trapped somehow. All these accidents were avoidable through some means or other but unfortunately humans were involved and they happened.

My life is currently spent doing building work, cutting, lifting, bashing, climbing, carrying heavy stuff, you name it. The possibility of something going wrong is something I have always to keep at the front of my mind. I constantly remind myself to avoid the time-saving, dangerous shortcut.

Our views are parting here, I think.

Yes, if it was a "lesser person" (and I don't really like that tag), then I would still expect people to take responsibility for their own actions.

OK, slip of the keyboard, 'less prominent' person was what I had in mind.

I don't tend to be falsely sincere. If I have low opinion of someone's intelligence, or opinion, I'm more likely to simply try and avoid too much interaction with them.

Well, I hope I'd challenge bad opinions, but I get frustrated too easily and tend to walk away for a quiet life. Depends as well whether it's someone I have to deal with repeatedly (like a colleague I have who is overly fond of daft conspiracy theories), in which case I'll try and placate more, or someone random I'll never have to see again, in which case I may be more contentious.

I think false sincerity is harsh. But then MDB comes across as a harsh character here (and yes, I would say that to your face MDB!)

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I think false sincerity is harsh. But then MDB comes across as a harsh character here (and yes, I would say that to your face MDB!)

GOOD! Saying what you think, but I have to disagree, it isn't harsh, people do it all the time without really thinking about it.

It did occur to me that I probably come across as a bit of a troll, but I just can't be bothered with all the namby pamby PC ness we have these days. I'm not a bad man, I just notice the absurdities, contradictions downright stupidity and hypocrisy of daily life (hell, just read the Commuting forum for long enough, it's all there), that's all.

Say what you think, don't be an invertebrate, stay honest folks and If people don't like then then that's their problem.

I might not have been entirely true to this above, making me a hypocrite too, but at least I own up to that and I have learned from it.

 

[Chromatic]

This from ColinJ reminds me of an interview on Midlands Today a few years back where the Chief Fire Officer of West Midlands Fire Brigade stated firmly three times that "clothing for children must be inflammable by law". I wanted to give him a slap. How can someone in his position not know the difference between inflammable and non-flammable.

Was he a fast-tracked graduate with a useless degree and an MBA? Mind you, he should have known the difference by the time he left school.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Incidentally, there is a difference between being a bit human and taking a calculated risk, and just being stupid/reckless.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Incidentally, there is a difference between being a bit human and taking a calculated risk, and just being stupid/reckless.

How people calculate risk will be affected by how stupid they are though no?

 

[srw]

Incidentally, there is a difference between being a bit human and taking a calculated risk, and just being stupid/reckless.

There is - and you'd expect a member of the Cabinet to know the difference surely?

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Fair point, so at what point is an action genuinely stupid?? (in relation the the Petrol incident I mean).

 

[Red Light]

Incidentally, there is a difference between being a bit human and taking a calculated risk, and just being stupid/reckless.

"Every day, man is making bigger and better fool-proof things, and every day, nature is making bigger and better fools. So far, I think nature is winning."
Albert Einstein

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
Douglas Adams

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

So where do you draw the line?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

So where do you draw the line?

personally? petrol in an open container indoors near a source of ignition would do it nicely.

but I've broken my ankle twice miscounting the number of stairs on our staircase at home. Doh!