Geek Pride is but a mere 10 months old and I guess in this youthful naivety I thought that everyone who ‘liked’ the page would be of the same humour and temperament as myself… THE CREATOOORR! Unfortunately, as some of you may have seen from one of my random posts on the dangers of typing NODNOL into your google image search, I was wrong and inadvertently offended a once Geek Pride follower who is now, sadly, no longer part of the fold.
To get you up to speed, the following is what was posted… Just note this is not a dig at the offended party, just telling the story to get to my point; which I will get too eventually!
[quote]Me – GEEKS AND GEEKETTES… WARNING! – I have posted this before but some did not take any heed, so i must warn you all again. DO NOT, I say again DO NOT type ” NODNOL ” (that’s London backwards) into your google image search. by all means google it normally but DO NOT google Image search it.. for the love of all that is holy! / Matt.[/quote]
As expected most people succumbed and pressed the proverbial red button, with laughs and banter had by all, but 1….
[quote]
Offended Party – you really should have put an NSFW on that
Me – I did stipulate “DO NOT” 3 times. I’m pretty sure you can assume its NSFW. Can’t help you if you disobey geek pride.. We did try to stop you :o(
Offended Party – No, this was obviously a trolling post. I’ve seen my fair share of the “don’t click this but I’ll never tell you why” jokes and thought this was one…. and opened it at work. As a group with so much focus on geek culture I’m sure you’re familiar with internet social conventions such as this one; you knew exactly what you were doing. And you know better than to post one of those without an NSFW tag on it. You’re an ass. Now I know why you have so few fans. Consider yourself banned from my feed
Me – I’m sorry if I’ve offended you it was not my intent but with all due respect. 1. If it was “obviously a trolling post I’ve seen my fair share …” then being the intelligent lass you no doubt are, then common sense should have prevailed and maybe you should have thought twice? 2. It was rather mean of you to say I have no fans, my mum tells me I’m awesome every day!
Come back I’m soweee ;o)
[/quote]
Geek prides followers drops by 1.. damn. I honestly was only playing around and would never intentionally go out to offend anyone, so I sent them an email saying as much; no reply.
And now to the main point:
After feeling a bit guilty, I started thinking long and hard about social / public culpability. I was being blamed for this person’s action but was it really my fault? I appreciate that the outcome was a forgone conclusion and telling someone not to do something is like telling someone not to push the big red button (they are going to push it) but why should I take responsibility for ‘their’ actions? I could understand maybe, if it was a child who doesn’t know any better but a mature adult? In the above case the offended person concedes they knew what these sorts of posts are like, so why would you need a NSFW tag if you already know what the outcome is?
It has become very apparent to me, over the years, that society is marred by people looking to pass blame onto others for their own mistakes, causing businesses and government bodies to have to go to ridiculous lengths to make sure their backs are covered; least they get sued.
Examples:
- I picked up a bag of nuts in the supermarket the other day and low and behold, on the back there was a warning: MAY CONTAIN NUTS. No shit Sherlock!This is obviously to stop people who are allergic to nuts, eating said nuts, but surely common sense should prevail in this instance? If you pick up a bag of nuts and you are allergic, you are not going to eat them; or have we become that stupid as to only read warning signs and not use our brains? Personally if you eat a bag of nuts (knowing they are nuts) and are allergic to nuts, then you deserve all the ramifications that come with it.
- A burglar climbs onto a man’s conservatory roof to try and rob his house; he unsurprisingly falls through the glass and gets injured quite badly. He then sues the home owner because the glass roof did not have a sign saying that it was dangerous to walk there?! This is pure insanity is it not? The guy deserved every laceration he got.. I’m surprised the owner didn’t sue him for breaking his roof!
Here is a link to a website listing some seriously stupid warnings: http://www.rinkworks.com/said/warnings.shtml
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[quote]
Do not use if you cannot see clearly to read the information in the information booklet.” — In the information booklet.
“Caution: The contents of this bottle should not be fed to fish.” — On a bottle of shampoo for dogs.
“For external use only!” — On a curling iron.”Warning: This product can burn eyes.” — On a curling iron.
“Do not use in shower.” — On a hair dryer.
“Do not use while sleeping.” — On a hair dryer.
“Do not use while sleeping or unconscious.” — On a hand-held massaging device.
“Do not place this product into any electronic equipment.” — On the case of a chocolate CD in a gift basket.
“Recycled flush water unsafe for drinking.” — On a toilet at a public sports facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“Shin pads cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover.” — On a pair of shin guards made for bicyclists.
“This product not intended for use as a dental drill.” — On an electric rotary tool.
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So with the above in mind I ask again, is it your responsibility to make sure other adult people don’t do stupid things? Is it a company’s responsibility that you don’t put your TV remote in the dishwasher or that you don’t fold up your child up with their stroller? I put it to you, it is not!
People need to accept their mistakes and not pass the buck. If a company has not provided safety equipment or something happens due to negligence on their behalf, by all means sue them dry, but if you are incapable of using common sense then you deserve, in this geeks humble opinion, what you get!
