Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Now, I know I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier (I thought I'd say that before Mike did), but I like to think that there are reasonable limits to the amount of stupidity even I can generate on a daily basis.

Consider the geniuses who are the focus of this story reported on CNN this morning: "Man Mauled by Tiger After Scaling Calgary Zoo Fences." According to the story, two mental giants entered the zoo by scaling an eight-foot fence topped with barbed wire, then ended up at the tiger cage, where they scaled yet another fence designed to prevent ... well ... exactly what happened.

Maybe it's just me, but I always thought that really high fences topped with barbed wire were someone's way of helping me avoid really bad juju.

There were probably signs there, too. Like...

or...

Or even...

Yes, folks, signs and fences are usually put up for a reason. Generally speaking, that reason involves protecting us from our own stupidity. That's why we need other signs like ...

And ...
Signs and fences. They're there for a reason. Of course, if it weren't for people like Joe Schmuck who tried to get into the tiger cage, we wouldn't have the Darwin Awards. I guess you've gotta take the good with the bad.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

5 comments:

Mike said...

I saw the title and thought you were going to do a post about me. I was almost disappointed until I got to the bird poop sign.

Gilahi said...

And what REALLY grinds my gears about these stories is that it's usually the big cat (bear, moose, skink, whatever) that gets blamed. Glad to see in this case that they're considering charges against the two men and no mention of any actions against the tiger.

Bilbo said...

Mike - If the shoe fits...well, you know. I've been saving that bird poop sign for years...finally had a chance to use it.

Gilahi - I thought the same thing! Notice that the zoo keeper was quoted as saying that the tiger was just doing what comes naturally.

allenwoodhaven said...

One of my favorite quotes:
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits.

Another good one:
Remember half the people in the world are below average.

Both quotes explain a lot!

Leslie David said...

It would appear that a large portion of the stupid people are also illiterate, although how you can't read a pictorial sign is beyond me.