A recent New
York Times essay suggested
that the meds used in suicides should have their
tablets individually sealed in blister packs. The idea: having to push 50+
tablets out one by one might slow a person down enough to stop the attempt.
Got me wondering which other difficulties
are on purpose and which have no good reason.
Public Bathroom Toilet-Paper Dispensers. You know the ones: they only let you tear off one square at
a time. Clearly, this is meant to reduce the amount of TP you use. What a miserable business.
Car Door Locks. It's late as you stop for the red
light at a deserted intersection. And that's when you see the homeless man gesticulating angrily
at his imaginary friend and realize you didn't lock your doors. Too late now.
Hit that button and he will hear that distinctive ka-chink sound. Inadvertent.
Angled Parking Spaces. Painting the lines of
parking spaces on a diagonal in a parking lot doesn't really make things easier. Or it's only
easier 50% of the time, when you approach from one direction, but not the other. This little difficulty is meant to steer you in a certain direction.
Smoke Detector's Low Battery Alert. Both intentional and unintentional.
The intentional part: those annoying little beeps are clearly meant to drive you to action (or out of your mind). The unintentional part? On ours, the alert only sounds at odd
intervals and there's no blinking light on the detector to tell you which one
of them is going off. You need to wait like an idiot, ears pricked, to figure it out. Somebody's idea of a joke?
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