# Those antique oscillating fans... how did they get away with it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899 "2009-06-25T02:32:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/41 "2009-06-25T19:07:55Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I grew up around those kinds of fans and did in fact stick my fingers in them. It hurt. But I wasn’t injured. The front of the fan has the trailing edge of the blade so, unless you jam your hand in there as fast as you possibly can, it is extremely difficult to touch the leading and cutting edge of the fan blade. > > The back side of the fan was a different story but the backside was lest dramatic as the front. The front had more noise and moving air. The back had much less of that. > > So maybe those fans existed because most encounters with children happened on the noisy whooshing attractive but painful side (the side that is pointed in the direction of the rooms occupants) instead of the quieter but bloody side (the side that’s usually very close to a wall). I also remember these fans. We were afraid of them as kids so I suppose my parents did a good job of parenting. I am still afraid of them…even the little 6 inch desk fan in my office. I seem to remember “Don’t shove the fork in the outlet and don’t stick your finger in the fan” Oh and something else about pulling on Superman’s cape and spitting into the wind… ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/42 "2009-06-25T19:44:42Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > It would have taken only a second for a three year old to leave her seat, walk by and have her fingres make contact with the fan near our table even inadvertently. But I bet she wouldn’t do it twice! Do you also expect the restaurant to put child safety covers over all the outlets? I’m sure your child could get to one of those with a fork (or her tongue) in only a few seconds, too. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/43 "2009-06-25T20:12:37Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > They could have easily broken one of my kid’s fingers if not severed them. I had a word with a manager, who listened with the typical Taiwanese smiling, respectful, embarrassed head bobbing earnestness while at the same time blowing me off entirely. I’m sure she started the fan again as soon as we left. Please, please, tell me you ended your conversation with the manager by saying, “I’m Canadian, not American.” 😉 😛 ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/44 "2009-06-25T20:17:31Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Just wanted to say that these are not oscillating fans. They are…fans. I can’t tell whether those are oscillating fans or not, but here’s an oscillating fan that I grew up with: [http://www.rubylane.com/shops/calamityjanes/item/APPL-593](http://www.rubylane.com/shops/calamityjanes/item/APPL-593) (No injuries were caused by this fan.) ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/45 "2009-06-25T20:26:05Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > And yet, somehow, humanity survived for thousands and thousands of years. :smack: Humanity survived. Lots of children did not. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/46 "2009-06-25T20:27:54Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > But I bet she wouldn’t do it twice! > > Do you also expect the restaurant to put child safety covers over all the outlets? I’m sure your child could get to one of those with a fork (or her tongue) in only a few seconds, too. This hijack kind of interests me, so I started a thread about it [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=522362). Not forks and tongues, but child safety and if it goes too far sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/47 "2009-06-25T20:32:35Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > …and the child has learned that he is NOT to get up without permission. Good luck with that. I’m of the opinion that you turn the fan off and keep your mouth shut. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/48 "2009-06-25T22:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Back in the bad old days when the discharge chute on lawn mowers was at the back, my brother lost three toes because he slipped on a slope and his foot went into the chute. He was mowing for a neighbor who didn’t want him to mow back and forth along the slope because that “scalped” the grass. My parents didn’t sue the neighbor or the mower manufacturer. Thye chalked it up to bad luck. My grandfather lost a toe that way, too, on their steeply-sloped lawn. His response was to tie a rope to the lawnmower, and henceforth mow by standing at the top of the hill and pulling the mower up and down. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/49 "2009-06-26T09:36:46Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > They could have easily broken one of my kid’s fingers if not severed them. No, they don’t, but they do a hell of a skin job on a nearly-three-year-old. Or so I’ve been told. I just remember being hurt and scared but none of the other details. ---
**Author:** ![curtsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed8c4c/32.png) [@curtsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curtsy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/50 "2012-05-06T03:32:57Z")
> [@valleyofthedolls](#): > > Why not watch your child and teach your child to behave in a restaurant rather than blaming the restaurant? Because many three-year-olds aren’t capable of learning how to behave in restaurants. Watching your kids is vital, but unfortunately you can only watch your kid 99.9% of the time. And if you have a kid with autism, like I do, you’re screwed. Back when I was a kid, it was rare for people to eat out and people didn’t normally take kids to restaurants. I didn’t take my kid out for years just because I couldn’t control him and I became a virtual hermit. Not everyone can handle a life like that. I think it takes a village People have to watch their kids and people who own public facilities like restaurants have to do what they can to protect customers, including kids. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/51 "2012-05-06T05:00:18Z")
> [@curtsy](#): > > Because many three-year-olds aren’t capable of learning how to behave in restaurants. Every one of those 3 year olds should eventually be expected to behave in a restaurant. It’s the parents’ job to teach their kids to act appropriately. I think every child needs to stick their finger in a fan blade, or touch a hot iron, or (like I did) touch a hot stove. Its part of learning what danger is. ---
**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/52 "2012-05-06T05:31:11Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Actually, I thought I was doing the manager a bit of a favor in warning her of a lawsuit risk; and I don’t care to think of any kids being hurt, whether mine or or someone who comes after me. > > And in Taiwan, everyone brings their children in tow, _everywhere_. There’s no such thing as a designated child-free public space. And they like to let their kids run around, probably more so than most Americans or Europeans (though not as much as those bloody Mexicans 😉 ) THIS! For all those going holier than thou on Koxinga, I wonder how many of you have kids. No matter how well you raise your kids and no matter how well behaved they are, they are still kids. Young children do stupid things because, and get this, they are young and don’t know better yet. It is entirely reasonable to notify management of an unsafe condition. If that had occurred in the US most business owners would be grateful that someone pointed out something that could be a major liability. And no mater what you think, YOU weren’t a perfect child and if you ask Mom or Dad I am sure they could provide endless stories about the time your stupidity almost did you in. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899/53 "2012-05-06T06:34:02Z")
Since the new posts that revived this thread are on the issue of responsibility for children’s behavior rather than on the actual topic of the OP (which is from 2009), I’m going to close this and invite those interested in the subject to open a new thread in IMHO or GD. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-antique-oscillating-fans-how-did-they-get-away-with-it/500899.md?page=2)