# Dumb workers defy the laws of gravity. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 5, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607 "2014-02-05T21:41:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/1 "2014-02-05T21:41:44Z")
Human stupidity at its finest. The car with the car propped up with 4x4’s :eek: Another car propped up with a chair. The guy with the bucket on his head was funny but not dangerous. His eyes were protected from the cement dust and that’s what matters. > **[So much for health and safety! Hilarious workmen cheating death](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2552152/So-health-safety-Hilarious-pictures-world-workmen-cheating-death.html)** > > An amusing set of photos range from the ridiculous to downright dangerous. Some of them show workers are quite content to endanger their life to get the job done quicker. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/2 "2014-02-05T21:58:32Z")
The pallet of bricks is a good one. Especially since they could have added one more brick to make it level. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/3 "2014-02-05T22:26:02Z")
One of the best pics got left out. This is from the headline on the main page. [![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/05/article-2552152-1B36E02600000578-851_636x382.jpg) ](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/02/05/article-2552152-1B36E02600000578-851_636x382.jpg) It never occurred to me that a second ladder could be stacked on top of another one. That’s just nuts. You wouldn’t see me climbing onto that. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/4 "2014-02-06T00:15:29Z")
I always loved the forklift lifting another forklift to lift something heavy higher pictures. I remember that from years ago but apparently people have done it again because there are a bunch of different pictures like this one: [https://www.google.com/search?q=forklift+lifting+another+forklift+photos&tbm=isch&imgil=KR-wQdigCt1KIM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcTZ9iQ3bbfUrVHBElyDkC-pInrVh\_jQkDggS-wgDYXcvCM5-N3d%253B400%253B299%253Bs9k0UUHS8Ro2QM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fsingletrackworld.com%25252Fforum%25252Ftopic%25252Fleaning-a-forklift&source=iu&usg=\_\_VX4BdGVrToximElNfkUb42BdNHY%3D&sa=X&ei=PNPyUoyLJNTfsASQiILwCw&ved=0CC4Q9QEwAg&biw=1280&bih=638#facrc=\_&imgdii=\_&imgrc=KR-wQdigCt1KIM%253A%3BDy02RwY4eNdGhM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F64.253.133.219%252Fdbin%252Fcourses%252Fforklift-lifting-a-forklift.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.reddit.com%252Fr%252Ffunny%252Fcomments%252F19z08k%252Fi\_added\_a\_minor\_detail\_3\_months\_ago\_not\_a\_single%252F%3B400%3B299](https://www.google.com/search?q=forklift+lifting+another+forklift+photos&tbm=isch&imgil=KR-wQdigCt1KIM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcTZ9iQ3bbfUrVHBElyDkC-pInrVh_jQkDggS-wgDYXcvCM5-N3d%253B400%253B299%253Bs9k0UUHS8Ro2QM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fsingletrackworld.com%25252Fforum%25252Ftopic%25252Fleaning-a-forklift&source=iu&usg=__VX4BdGVrToximElNfkUb42BdNHY%3D&sa=X&ei=PNPyUoyLJNTfsASQiILwCw&ved=0CC4Q9QEwAg&biw=1280&bih=638#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=KR-wQdigCt1KIM%253A%3BDy02RwY4eNdGhM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F64.253.133.219%252Fdbin%252Fcourses%252Fforklift-lifting-a-forklift.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.reddit.com%252Fr%252Ffunny%252Fcomments%252F19z08k%252Fi_added_a_minor_detail_3_months_ago_not_a_single%252F%3B400%3B299) I can’t even imagine how these people are still alive. I work around that stuff every day and that is so incredibly dangerous that it boggles the mind. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/5 "2014-02-06T01:32:56Z")
No pics, but: I have a friend who does accident investigation. One happened in a big indoor arena, equipped with one of those giant scoreboards hovering over the center. Scoreboard needed service, but no one qualified to lower it was available. An electric scaffold device capable of the job was available, but it hadn’t been used for a while and was stored in some inconvenient place. The solution was to use an extension ladder that proved to be barely long enough. The only serious flaw with this plan was that the next scheduled event was a hockey game, which meant the ladder was sitting on ice. It slipped; worker was killed in the fall. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/6 "2014-02-06T07:20:29Z")
It’s like the bumper sticker says: “Obey Gravity! It’s not just a theory anymore, it’s the LAW!” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/7 "2014-02-06T08:11:56Z")
There’s a line between stupid and awesome. Most of those pics are firmly on the stupid side; the clip with the bucket of cement, though… ---
**Author:** ![VanillaGorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@VanillaGorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VanillaGorilla)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/8 "2014-02-06T11:15:52Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > There’s a line between stupid and awesome. Most of those pics are firmly on the stupid side; the clip with the bucket of cement, though… Imagine if he had grabbed the rope hanging from the wrong side of the pulley though… :eek::smack: ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/9 "2014-02-06T12:42:14Z")
Shouldn’t the word “defy” in the OP title be replaced with something like “ignore,” “flaunt,” “fail to consider,” or “attempt to defy”? I opened this thread expecting to see how some group of workers cleverly and successfully implemented some apparently (though of course not literally) gravity-defying solution to some problem. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/10 "2014-02-06T14:19:22Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Shouldn’t the word “defy” in the OP title be replaced with something like “ignore,” “flaunt,” … I think you may mean “flout”. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/11 "2014-02-06T14:28:47Z")
I wonder how he figured out the safe counter weight pounds? 185 lb man and 25 lb bucket cement. Would you hit the ground too fast and hard? do you need 35 lb bucket? 45lbs? figuring that out could get painful. Too much weight and you’re left hanging in mid air. Too little and you crash to the ground. > [@VanillaGorilla](#): > > Imagine if he had grabbed the rope hanging from the wrong side of the pulley though… :eek::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/12 "2014-02-06T14:42:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I wonder how he figured out the safe counter weight pounds? 185 lb man and 25 lb bucket cement. Would you hit the ground too fast and hard? do you need 35 lb bucket? 45lbs? > > figuring that out could get painful. Too much weight and you’re left hanging in mid air. Too little and you crash to the ground. It takes a lot of careful planning to be that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/13 "2014-02-06T14:53:39Z")
I was genuinely surprised to see a woman in one of those pictures. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/14 "2014-02-06T15:23:35Z")
The car on the chair wasn’t that bad. If the chair collapsed the car would roll away from the worker, not onto him. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/15 "2014-02-06T23:20:31Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > [Hilarious pictures from around the world of workmen cheating death | Daily Mail Online](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2552152/So-health-safety-Hilarious-pictures-world-workmen-cheating-death.html) Anyone else look at that “porn star with O-sized breasts” video? Forget the breasts, what the hell did she do to her _lips?_ Get them stuck in a vacuum cleaner hose? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/16 "2014-02-07T06:55:49Z")
The guy with the cement bucket made me think of the bricklayer and the barrel story. [The Bricklayer's Lament - by Gerard Hoffnung - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZUJLO6lMhI) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/17 "2014-02-07T10:23:42Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > I think you may mean “flout”. Right you are! Sorry. It’s Alfonso Cuaron who likes to flaunt the laws of gravity. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumb-workers-defy-the-laws-of-gravity/680607/18 "2014-02-07T14:36:43Z")
As funny as the pictures are I think it’s less dumb workers and more places where worker safety is not a priority. If you’re told to get the job done with what you have and worker deaths are just accepted as their failure in figuring out the right way to do something these contraptions are the kind of thing that get created. A triumph of human ingenuity!