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Protip: don't use your feet.

Man's legs severed in wood chipper accident (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/04/3155625.htm)

Sup.

(http://darwin-online.org.uk/graphics/face.jpg)

Not a true Darwin Award as he can still reproduce.

Physically, yes...I wish him good luck in actually finding someone dumb enough to go along with the idea.

Actually kind of interesting.  There are really two classes of "unbelievably fucking dumb accident".

1. Someone who has absolutely no idea what they're fucking around with who gets killed or maimed because of it.

2. Someone who has been doing a particular job involving a dangerous machine or activity for so long and has gotten so used to it that they've stopped being scared and thus have stopped paying attention.

This story is a case of #2--the guy had been an arborist for ten years. I bet he'd fed a ton of wood through a chipper, and I'd wager he had done something a bit like this before and gotten away with it. I have a fairly shitty chipper/shredder with a poorly designed feed chute for small twigs (feed chute for 1'-2' diameter branches is better designed) and I know once or twice after a day of shredding I've gotten tempted to just try and push a clog quickly with my hand--but I'm still scared enough of the thing after three years of use that I always go get my push stick.

In general, I'd be way more afraid of the accidents that can happen under #2. #1 type accidents take aggressive and special Darwin-award winning stupidity, most of the time.

It's scary seeing people get lazy around dangerous stuff. A contractor was in my bathroom and pulled off the old bulb fixture, disconnected the wires while they were live. I asked him if he wanted me to shut down the breaker. Nope. He goes to twist on a simple bulb contraption so he has some light and shocks himself. I arch my eyebrow, he sheepishly says 'ok, go ahead'.

Still disconnected it live every day after that, though.

Hell, I walk away from a connection for thirty seconds, in an empty house, I still test it for juice when I come back. I'm paranoid about that kind of thing. I like being alive and healthy, I guess.

An older engineer I work with has no qualms about sticking his hand right between the busbar phases of a live system to work on something because he knows exactly where he can and can't go.  He's legendary about it.  Me?  I've already gotten 2 strikes against me professionally with high voltage so I don't even mess around anymore.  I do everything as safe as possible.

Maybe he just stands on cardboard.

Our friend, the accelerant.  Alternatively "Let's invite civilian bystanders onto our fire ground" or "Hey kids, go play with the nail filled wooden debris on the road" or "Let's do this shit, fuck hitting the alarm on the pump panel, if there's anyone doing a last minute inspection in there it's too fucking bad." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dSpoUUFBBM)
Wait, didn't the Mythbusters say that can't happen? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPajWzThRy4&t=1m5s) :ye_gods:
I'm not sure what the thought process was there, but the kid crying in the background has the right idea. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f66tK0rByI)
I'm not sure you should go in there. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQyCotpFYck)
Whelp, next time I'll stand back a little further when extinguishing that particular model. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1hhgTbtsCs)
Erm, should that door be closing? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6bAEMu5Yk)

Also, in print: Point Edward (http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/02/01/12692121.html), and Vineland (http://statter911.com/2009/11/27/explosion-at-bonfire-sends-pallets-flying-injures-firefighter-fuel-used-by-ffs-to-light-pallets-believed-behind-blast-that-rattled-vineland-new-jersey-pictures-capture-incident/).


I know of a lot of the "Whelp" stuff, since my dad teaches this shit and tends to like providing visuals.

EDIT: Oh, there was a "Hey, lets burn some brush... OH GOD I'M ON FIRE!" one that I'll have to try and find as well.  It caused a massive disturbance in the Ministry of Natural Resources.

EDIT2: Found.

When I was growing up, only a handful of us had an IQ over 100. It was great fun watching our friends unwittingly put their safety on the line in drunken bravado. From the kid who kept trying to do olympic diving moves off a bridge (worse when we could do some basic flips to goad him on) and just do belly-whoppers that almost knock you out to the old hollywood stuntman (breaking a bottle over his own head...we didn't tell him they don't use tavern bottles). Or the guy who kept a fire going in the rain with a gas can, under a tarp set 10' above.

This was before youtube and digital video devices, thank god. I don't know how the kids are allowed to be kids anymore when there is a permanent record of their jackassery.

The amazing thing is the only deaths were from DWI. Don't drink and drive, even a little bit.

I managed to survive a *pour gasoline directly onto a fire*, about 3 acres of a field didn't.

I shiver and wince just thinking about some of the things my friends and I did as teens. 

I think any of us 40+ years of age would probably end up in juvenile detention if we tried to pull what we pulled as kids in today's world. Anyone remember when throwing rocks at each other was good clean fun?  How about throwing persimmons, tomatoes, etc. at cars? B.B. gun fights were all good fun until one jackass with the pump daisy decided to crank it 20 times and basically turn it into a .22 rifle. Slingshots, with pachinko balls as ammuntion - really? If i was a parent i would probably track the relative down and kick them in the nuts for giving this to an 8-9 year old kid. At the time i was glad to have it, but it has to be the single thing i did most of my damage with when young. Firecrackers - when i was a kid we could light them off in the city limits and not get in trouble. I'm not old enough to remember cherry bombs, but we had m -80s, roman candle fights, and a few other things. Roman candle fights several times a year and yet no one got hurt...how i have no idea.

At least we kind of have the excuse of being young for most of this. Operating like that now would be out of the question for me. At 40 i guess i have just developed a little better sense of my own mortality. I can't replace ears,fingers, etc. and i know i would like to keep them.

Yeah, we'd definitely be considered juvenile deliquents in today's world.  The gang of kids I grew up with used to roam the woods behind our house at night, lighting bonfires and creating general havoc.  We built one too high once and it set the branches of the trees over it on fire, for a little bit.  I think we just kind of went 'oh cool!' and let it burn out. 

Tossing firecrackers at each other, or better yet, cutting a pop can in half, squishing the two ends together again and then popping a lit firecracker inside to throw in someone's general direction.  That was fun.

The hours on end my brothers used to right their mini-bikes and motorcycles up and down our dead end street, down an alley, through the woods and then circling back to the street again.

But then again, back in those days, any adult could discpline us or tell our parents we were really misbehaving and then punishment time from dad.