So the spouse and I wandered into our local Home Depot this weekend to get some picture hangers. Up near the front of the store was a large safe–probably 6’ high and about 2’ deep, with one partition in the middle and a big keypad lock. On the front of the safe was taped a piece of paper which read “Try Me! Combination 123456”
The safe was currently open. I tried it, and sure enough the combination worked.
However, my mind immediately started going to dark places: the interior of the safe was easily big enough for a small child to fit into. Presumably the employees of the store all know the combination, but as anyone who’s been to a Home Depot knows, sometimes they’re pretty hard to get hold of. What if a couple of kids were playing around, and one locked the other one in the safe–and thought it would be a great joke to take the paper with the combination? Okay, so admittedly most kids (or adults) wouldn’t do this, but there are bad eggs in this world. I just think it’s a really bad idea to leave something like this open and available to the public (including kids). I know the chances of anything happening are slim, since a kid small enough to fit into the safe would probably be supervised by an adult, but…yeah.
I agree with you that this is begging for trouble. Unfortunately, not enough kids “small enough to fit into the safe would probably be supervised by an adult”, especially at a Home Depot, where many people need more customer assistance than in, say, a supermarket.
It does sound horrible to me. But then years ago I had similar dark thoughts about the giant dryers in laundromats as I sat there watching my clothes tumble. :shudder:
Looks like an accident waiting to happen. I’d say it’s an unsafe safe. If they must have a display model, better to have ventilation holes drilled into it.
For the thoughtless and careless parents among us, there is probably an employee whose job it is to watch the area to ensure that children don’t climb inside. Or there is a camera trained upon the safe and it is monitored infrequently to ensure that the safe isn’t closed when it’s supposed to be open.
As a parent, I can certainly understand child safety being paramount. However, the person whose primary responsibility it is to keep people’s children safe is the parent themselves. If you are too tired or too distracted to properly supervise your children, then get a babysitter and leave them at home.
Or better…going shopping after work without them.
If your children are so bad (yes, it’s usually bad children who end up in trouble) or so out of control that they require constant monitoring, then perhaps YOU the parent are not doing your job.
I’m surprised that no one has claimed that a hardware store should only show lawn mowers and snow blowers by appointment only because they have sharp edges and potential pinch points.
I don’t think it’s unnecessary worrying at all. The snowblowers and lawnmowers on display aren’t going to be gassed up and ready to go, so that comparison doesn’t work . I can totally see where a customer will be focused on an item for 20 seconds while one of his kids locks the other in the safe.
There are at least 9,425 ways for a child to kill themselves in Home Depot.
What harm, really, would come to a child who was locked up in a safe for a few moments? Emotional harm, perhaps, but really…it’s a little dark room. It’s like a bathroom stall. They aren’t going to use up the air in there all that quickly (I leave the math to someone else.)
I’m more flabbergasted by the display toilets in child/drunk person reach. Surely that’s a bad, messy, disgusting accident waiting to happen - one that’s an actual public health hazard.
The lawn mower blades are still razor sharp and snow blower impellers can pinch and even remove fingers with the right pressure. No gasoline required. And there are plenty of interesting places to climb plus heavy items stored higher than the floor. Oh the humanity, the humanity.
Maybe there should be flashing signs are the entrances asking people not to swallow any screws or nails?
From a legal perspective, the “try me” safe display described in the OP is risky. If something happened and a child was injured, the store would probably be liable.
