# What Happens When You Have Morons Broadcasting To Morons **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 25, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871 "2003-01-25T16:37:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/1 "2003-01-25T16:37:05Z")
It’s a close run thing, but I think the radio station here wins the prize for being the biggest brain-dead morons, closely followed by the competing listeners. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2691229.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2691229.stm) To summerise: Radio station thinks a good competion to win the “coolest seats” at a music festival would be see who could sit on a block of ice (“cool”, gettit?) the longest. Except it’s **dry** ice. That’s right. Frozen C02 at -78 degrees Celcius. :smack: Weeks of hospitalisation, scarring and skin grafts all round. ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/2 "2003-01-25T17:00:14Z")
At work I won $5 for keeping my hand in a bucket of cold water for two minutes. Little did those rubes know that I ran cross-country in college, had bad shins, and thus would regularly spend 15 minutes at a time with the entire lower half of my body submerged in an icy cold whirlpool. Next week I’m drinking liquid nitrogen. Little do those rubes know I breathe that shit all the time. Teehee! ---
**Author:** ![JRootabega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@JRootabega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRootabega)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/3 "2003-01-25T17:06:59Z")
Also, I don’t understand how the people who willingly kept their asses pressed up against dry ice could be _less stupid_ than, well, anything. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/4 "2003-01-25T18:12:43Z")
The stupidity for all involved in this stunt is astounding. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/5 "2003-01-25T21:22:42Z")
“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” ---
**Author:** ![JayElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@JayElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JayElle)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/6 "2003-01-25T21:24:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pesch \* > \*\*“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” \*\* Hah!! The absolute _best_ WKRP episode! ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/7 "2003-01-25T21:26:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JRootabega \* > \*\*Also, I don’t understand how the people who willingly kept their asses pressed up against dry ice could be _less stupid_ than, well, anything. \*\* The story I read claims that the cold was so intense it numbed their nerves and they didn’t realise just how much damage was being done. If that’s true I don’t think you can really blame them. The company involved claims that it was based on a successful stunt in New Zealand. Unfortunately they managed to use dry ice instead of normal ice. Bunch of cretins. I hope they get sued something rotten. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/8 "2003-01-25T22:19:40Z")
And here I thought this was going to be another **Clear Channel** rant. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/9 "2003-01-25T22:21:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zette \* > \*\*The stupidity for all involved in this stunt is astounding. \*\* Yes indeedy. Whoever dreams up the stunts at that station needs to be fired. Or iced. Seriously, this sort of stupidity makes breeding licenses look GOOD. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/10 "2003-01-25T23:05:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Crusoe \* > \*\*The story I read claims that the cold was so intense it numbed their nerves and they didn’t realise just how much damage was being done. If that’s true I don’t think you can really blame them. \*\* Except they’re dealing with something that is gaseous in normal conditions and exists as a solid in temperatures well below that which people get frostbite. The point where your nerves are numbed beyond feeling is when to **start** worrying. The ones most to blame, I reckon, are those who supplied the dry ice. Surely someone involved had received training on how to handle the stuff? Did no-one think to mention this idiotic stunt was dangerous? ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/11 "2003-01-26T03:20:59Z")
This reminds me of something that happened several years back at a high school pep rally in Silverton, OR. Girls from each class had to see who could sit on blocks of ice the longest and, unfortunately, it turned out to be dry ice. It’s appalling that the teachers, coaches, whoever is supposed to supervise these things was so ignorant. I sure hope none of them were science teachers! I seem to remember, too, that some people thought that the bigger shame of the situation was how the news media treated it as a humorous story because the girls got cold bottoms (tee hee). Those cold bottoms needed skin grafts. It wasn’t a laughing matter. ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/12 "2003-01-26T03:39:30Z")
Undeniable truth #1: people are stupid. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/13 "2003-01-26T06:17:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Futile Gesture \* > \*\*Except they’re dealing with something that is gaseous in normal conditions and exists as a solid in temperatures well below that which people get frostbite. The point where your nerves are numbed beyond feeling is when to **start** worrying. > > The ones most to blame, I reckon, are those who supplied the dry ice. Surely someone involved had received training on how to handle the stuff? Did no-one think to mention this idiotic stunt was dangerous? \*\* You wouldn’t happen to be a lawyer, would you? The logic that he who manufactures or supplies a thing is responsible for the eventual use no matter how convoluted or divergent from it’s original purpose falls into the tripe pot that embraces tobacco lawsuits, the McFatass litigation, and damage filings against gun manufacturers. I’m waiting about 10-15 years for the class action of all the deaf or hearing damaged young adults against Pioneer, Alpine, and Bose because their 150 dB rolling thumpa-boxes caused hearing damage. Was there a warning label on the box stating that listening to music at painful volume could be dangerous? What? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/14 "2003-01-26T09:09:52Z")
> [@](#): > > It was just horrendous. You just don’t think anything like that is going to happen :smack: tenfold. Sticking your ass on _anything_ that’s ~ -78° C is maybe, just _maybe_ a bad idea. And while it wouldn’t be the responsibility of the dry ice suppliers, it would behoove them to mention that the two groups of morons are about to make a Big Fucking Mistake. Not so much as any liability issue, but just common sense. A good, old-fashioned “What the hell is wrong with you schmucks?!” y’know? ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/15 "2003-01-26T10:39:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by danceswithcats \* > **You wouldn’t happen to be a lawyer, would you?** IANAL. But when the guy turned up with a large block of dry ice and was asked to put it outside, exposed, in the middle of a gathering crowd, it never occured to ask what was going on? "We’re going to have people sit on it for as long as they can stand. " “Uh, ok. No business of mine that this is just the kind of stupidity my on-the-job training advises against and is going to end up with people in hospital.” Ulitimately, I believe, the responsibility lies with the radio station. But there must have been a supplier about, you don’t keep a stock of dry ice in the stationary cupboard. They must have known the dangers, so why not warn them? ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/16 "2003-01-26T13:42:26Z")
FYI, this is the same radio station that, a couple of years ago, organised a ‘blind wedding’ where the two contestants wouldn’t meet each other until their marriage ceremony. Caused an uproar and got the radio station loads of publicity… ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/17 "2003-01-26T15:36:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Futile Gesture \* > \*\*But when the guy turned up with a large block of dry ice and was asked to put it outside, exposed, in the middle of a gathering crowd, it never occured to ask what was going on? > > "We’re going to have people sit on it for as long as they can stand. " > > “Uh, ok. No business of mine that this is just the kind of stupidity my on-the-job training advises against and is going to end up with people in hospital.” > \*\* Who is going to listen to a guy whose job is lugging around chunks of ice? Seriously. I have seen things just as stupid, when people _did_ get a warning, but being stupid people they went along as if they were thinking: “That’s not what I want to hear, so you must be wrong.” They don’t actually say that, they say something more like “oh, I’m sure the organizers did their research. They know enough not to subject our fans to anything dangerous.” (I mean really, the guys who thought up this contest went to college, and you just drive a truck full of ice around.) If you’re a minority voice and you’re giving them “bad news” they’ll find a way to figure that you’re wrong or that your information doesn’t apply in this particular case. The dry ice could have been wrapped up with warning stickers plastered over it, and some putz still may have thought, “well, that doesn’t really apply. All these people are wearing pants, so it’s not like they’re touching it with bare skin…” ---
**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/18 "2003-01-26T15:44:32Z")
The idea behind this promtion is not new. Radio stations have been using the “sitting-on-ice-the-longest” to win a prize routine for many years. Of course its supposed to be regular old frozen H2O - not _dry_ ice. D’oh ! :smack: I bet someone loses a job for this. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/19 "2003-01-26T20:33:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eats\_Crayons \* > **Who is going to listen to a guy whose job is lugging around chunks of ice?** I would, if I were smart enough to know what dry ice was. I would assume that the folks to transport stuff like that go through at least a most basic safety course, which at the very least would tell you _“Don’t fucking sit on it!”_ But I guess I shouldn’t assume anything about the participants’ supposed intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871/20 "2003-01-27T00:09:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Troy McClure SF \* > \*\*I would, \*if I were smart enough to know what dry ice was. \* \*\* Well, I think you’ve just hit the nail on the head, there. Whoever ordered the dry ice is _clearly_ not smart enough to know what it is, making them all the more prone to ignoring warnings. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-you-have-morons-broadcasting-to-morons/150871.md?page=2)