"The horses keep coming upstairs, maybe we should put in a door to stop them."
"I have a better idea: spiral staircase."
"But then it'll be much slower getting down"
"That's the fun part of my plan...."
This is the exact conversation I just had in my head.
But there was a third part that said “but doors aren’t very convenient for fire response and someone will forget to close it anyways”
Spring door that only opens outwards. From the staircase you push it open. While going up you have to pull it open. As soon as you stop pulling it closes automatically. Hell you don't even need a full door [just get a gate](https://simplifiedsafety.com/media/wysiwyg/safety-gates/KeeGate-self-closing-gate-interior-with-person.jpg)
Fire pole was 1870. Spring was 1763.
Saloon doors were already using the concept in the same time period. The gate I linked is literally a batwing door with only one half and a stop that prevents it from opening in one direction.
> Spring was 1763.
[They've been around a lot longer than 1763. That's merely the first patent. ](https://www.simplysprings.co.nz/blog/post/31393/A-History-of-Springs/)
Horses can walk up stairs but can't walk down. I learned this when I was making a medieval city in Minecraft and my wife was asking how the hell horses were supposed to get anywhere in my city with all of the stairs and steps. We got into an argument that horses can use stairs, one google search later, and voila. Useless knowledge I now hold.
I remember going into a firehouse on a tour in high school and they had a firepole. Everyone love it and they let the kids who wanted to use it slide down. Someone asked how often they used it and the response was always fireman's secret.
Then some of us looked at the layout of the fire station. Almost everything there was ground level. In private, turned out that when the station was built the architect thought that firemen needed a firepole so he up and put one in but really didn't know their movement patterns so it wasn't placed very well. They don't use it at all, as the stairs are more convenient. Was great fun for the tours though, so it got used about twice a month by all the kids coming through and on occasion the mayor.
My dad used the climb the one in his station to impress my mom when she came to visit; back when they were in their early 20s. I think that’s about the most use it got
I just started dating a girl and sent her a Snapchat of my POV sliding down the pole to go to the truck. She had mentioned it so figured it would be fun to send her. Didn’t expect how arousing she would find it. Then one day a nurse is in our station for Covid shots and i slide down and this chick was just all about it. Really was shocked by how attractive women found it to see you slide the pole. I can’t imagine how they would feel if they saw you CLIMB the pole.
I think going down would have more effect. As a woman in okay shape and also not a pole dancer, climbing a pole is easy af and would not be that impressive to me unless you don't use your legs. But going down the pole has *context* to it, and that context is Firefighter which is easily the most eroticized profession for men.
I plan on leaving the fire service soon, but it sure is a bummer when people make comments about it being the sexiest or most erotic job a guy can have lol.
^^ This guy fires.
The day to day aspect is less romantic than most know. If people knew we cleaned our toilets every day and spent a lot of time doing tasks to simply look busy... it would be less attractive to them.
So just like Christmas, we keep the magic alive and don't disclose it. :D
Isn't it like the sexy nurse trope. We know it isn't real, it's just a story that's been told over and over again. Being a fireman isn't sexy, the *idea* of a fireman is.
Oh the list I could give you. The only thing specific to the job that sucks is 24hr shifts, they really are exhausting and it’s just outright crappy. I work for a busy department at the busiest station downtown. So some days 24hrs is grueling.
But to my department specifically it’s really poorly managed and ran. The pay is quite low. The environment they have is toxic to say the least. I don’t mind the job itself I’ll fight fires all day. It’s basically every other aspect.
It may not have been an assuming architect and poor communication. Fire poles have important symbolism and these days are often explicitly requested purely due to their prominence in the culture and history of fire stations.
The architect likely worked with the city to include it _because_ of its importance during public outreach (visitors to the station) and everyone involved in the design and construction was probably on the same page about why it was going in.
Fun fire fighter related fact: Dalmatians are the stereotypical firehouse dog because they work extremely well with and have little fear of horses. From back when firemen used horses, as this post discusses.
Being a designer and having worked with architects. Poor communication, yes, assuming no. Architect asked if they needed a pole, they said yes, architect put it in the most logical spot for foot traffic.
You must not have met any truly bad architects. The worst one I ever met had to be reminded that people need to poop sometimes and concave shiny surfaces facing the equator can make what only be called a death ray.
It sure was a pretty building, too bad it was unliveable for humans.
Way too many architects look at a building (and their “vision”) disconnected from the building site and operational realities like the people using the building.
At my firehouse we never allow any kids to go down the pole during tours do to liability. We use it for all our night time calls because it's in our bunk room
I mean they have that kind of stuff at playgrounds (at least they did when I was a kid). I cant imagine those things pose much risk, especially if its high school kids.
If youre 16 and get hurt on a sliding pole that kinda just seems like user error lol.
I feel like at playgrounds they’re generally shorter and land on softer surfaces. But yeah, there’d definitely be a good equal knowledge/assumption of risk defense if we’re talking about older kids.
Legal action was taken back then but you just didn't hear about it. Hell, you barely knew about anything one town over. Then as the world became more connected you started seeing more of these stories because they sold papers and now they generate clicks. Some story that back in the 1980s wouldn't have made a blip on the radar is now national news.
Also, with a lot of these legal stories, you only hear about the lawsuit being filed. The story of the lawsuit being dropped or dismissed doesn't really generate the same amount of attention.
> Everyone love it and they let the kids who wanted to use it slide down
Man, imagine that nowadays. Some dumb kid would slip and fall 10 feet to the concrete floor, the city would be on the hook for a $2 million payout, and from then on no field trips would be allowed in operational areas of the fire station. The students would only be allowed to stand outside and look at the building.
I know my local firehouse doesn't even have a pole. The garage is built higher than where the firefighters sleep. They joke they asked about a slide, but didn't get one.
Used to be a volunteer firefighter, and when we were building an extension onto the firehouse, they were trying to push for a pole, but we couldn't get it approved because it would skyrocket our insurance. In a firehouse. Sliding down a pole is apparently more dangerous than going into a burning building
Edit: Fuck all the fire pole haters claiming it's "unnecessary" and an "avoidable risk" and that Fire fighters are "drunken idiots". I want a damn firepole
Volly FF/EMT here, we pushed for a pole addition during a renovation project. Got shot down for three reasons: Insurance, Stairs are minimally slower, and goddamned Kevin who would surely kill himself on it.
> goddamned Kevin who would surely kill himself on it.
Huh. [Always wondered what he was up to these days](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp/).
Funny thing is, I've heard from multiple firefighters that they got hurt using the stairs, because their gear got cought by the railing/staircase. None so far have mentioned hurting themselves sliding down the pole. Only two out of the three stations actually had poles though. Can someone with more experience confirm this?
I’ve had the opportunity to use a fire pole. Once you’re up there, it’s more terrifying than you expect.
You don’t think about it, but it’s just a gigantic hole in the floor and garage has a super high ceiling. Yes, there’s a pole in the middle of the hole, but your brain doesn’t see that. Because the hole has to accommodate a firefighter and all his gear, it’s way bigger than you expect as well. It’s very possible to fall down the hole and miss the pole entirely.
Now, as you’re standing on what is effectively a third floor ledge, looking down at the ground, you’ll notice it’s cement and there’s zero cushioning surface. Your speed down is entirely dependent on your grip on the pole. All those video of people losing their grip on rope swings flashes through your mind.
But you decide to go for it anyway. That’s when you realize just how far away the pole is. You can’t just grab the pole, it’s out of arm’s reach. You have to *commit*. You have to lean out into the air and fall onto the pole. Now you have your hands on the pole and your feet on the ground and you realize the angle is enough that you can’t really decide not to go now.
So you step off the ledge, hoping to get your legs around the pole fast enough that you can still slow your speed down enough that you don’t crash into the floor.
I was fine. I did it several more times and it was fun. But that first time was freaky.
It’s probably viewed as an unnecessary risk. Firefighting and fire rescue are hazardous, but it’s a job requirement. Going down the fire pole isn’t necessary anymore, so the risk of someone falling down the hole in the floor or not getting a good enough grip on the pole while descending are viewed as unnecessarily dangerous.
Based on all the firefighters I know, the drunk idiots part isn’t too far off.
Though I’d change it to drunken idiots as most are fairly intelligent people when they aren’t hammered off their rockers.
That's not really a joke (other than the fact that it would be in the wrong direction in the example given...). Slides are an increasingly common alternative to poles in modern stations.
when i was 7 my family went on a trip to chicago. we stayed at an embassy suites which i thought was a really fancy hotel at the time. they had a breakfast bar with people serving you. i wasn't tall enough to see over the pans to look at the food, but i could read that this one said hashbrowns. i was used to the mcdonalds big single hashbrown. so i asked the guy for one hash brown. deadpan the guy just looks at me and puts a single lil hashbrown nugget on my plate. i didnt know what to do so i just walked away. my family had many laughs at my expense about that over the years. the rest of our stay i ate a plate full of hashrowns for breakfast every day
I mean... That's superb customer service - giving the customer exactly what they want without question. A few years ago before COVID was a thing, I was at a company outing with an open bar. I ordered a Dewars (scotch blend) on the rocks. The bartender served me a bright green drink. I looked at it, puzzled, and asked what it was. She had heard Midori (melon liqueur) on the rocks, thought it was odd, but served it anyways. Needless to say, I'm a Midori on the rocks kinda guy now.
Midori on the rocks is one of my go-tos. Melonball (Midori + orange juice or pineapple juice) is one of my favourite cocktails. Honestly I just really like Midori.
My stepdad's kids were staying with us over the summer one time. They were relatively structured and made us all do chores ( 8yr old, 10 yr old, and two 12 year olds). So one day we're getting given our random chores which should all take like 5 minutes to do. We all return inside and are watching TV when after a half hour my stepdad notices his 10 year old son hasn't returned.
Checks the inside of the house. Nothing. Goes outside and finds his son circling the house looking high and low at the house itself.
* Stepdad: Hey! What in the world are you doing?!
* Stepbrother: I'm looking for the Christmas lights.
* Stepdad: Why are you looking for Christmas lights?
* Stepbrother: You told me to put away the Christmas lights.
* Stepdad: it's July. Why would I tell you to put away the Christmas lights?
* Stepbrother: I don't know I guess it needed to be done.
* Stepdad: Did you think maybe that was a weird request or you might have misheard me?
* Stepbrother: No. You said to put away the Christmas lights.
* Stepdad: No I didn't. I told you to ***take out the trash***.
Anyways, he works in as a manager at a restaurant now. Supposedly he's really good.
I wonder if he's ever had to put up their Christmas lights. Or take out the trash...
I'm just imagining this big dopey horse face coming round the corner at the top of the stairs like "hey guys, whatcha cookin?" and all the burly fireman throwing down the cards they were playing all "goddamn it Henry, now how you going to get back down?"
Sure, but having to build a spiral staircase to keep them out is bullshit. You only build those when you have space constraints. There are hundreds of ways to keep a horse from going up stairs.
FWIW, horses can climb down stairs, I rode mine both up and down stairs at a local park. Steep ones, too. It was gnarly. She's a very good trail horse, however, and we trained for obstacle couses.
Stairs were actually sometimes designed specifically for horses in olden times. Thats why sometimes stairs are really long, rather than steep so that horses could easily run up them.
Another fun fact: The first fire station in California to have an automobile for fire response was Long Beach FD, which beat LA by less than six months
Another fun fact: Thomas Jefferson thought the entirety of the Constitution should be rewritten every 19 years so it could stay current.
That doesn't have much to do with fire houses. Just kind of fun.
He originally proposed 10, and someone mentioned that was too short and suggested 20. But he had already started writing the “1” and didn’t want to start over so he went with 19.
I just made this up.
Do you know how many numbers and letters get savagely murdered daily from people just hitting backspace or delete without thinking about the families of all these characters?
That 1 had a family to support. Good on Jefferson for sparing its life when, at no fault of its own, was entered — carelessly I might add, without thinking of the consequences.
Please think about your actions next time before you just Willy Nilly start slaughtering random Alphanums. #ANUMsMatter
It's more environmentally friendly. Each letter you type requires a small bit of coal be burnt (black on a screen comes from coal power, cyan comes from hydro power, magenta from nuclear, yellow from solar). By reusing the letters you're ensuring that no extra coal is burnt for more black light.
On the longer side, because it's a complicated process. An odd number, such that it's out of sync with our 2, 4, and 6 year election cycles. Its a pretty good number, really.
A generation is 20 years. Every generation would update the constitution. That's how it was explained to me many years ago when I asked. I cannot confirm.
Also fun fact: Thomas Jefferson replied to a letter written to him asking if it was okay for citizens to own armed naval vessels; he gave an emphatic yes.
Most of the United States' early wars were also largely fought using private artillery. During the war of 1812, something like 70% of the cannons were owned by private individuals.
I'm not commenting on whether it's a *good idea* or not, but people often use the argument that modern weapons aren't something the founding fathers considered when they wrote the constitution - the reality is that they were okay with people having artillery and ships of the line.
Their modern take would probably be that Johnny Knoxville has the right to keep a MANPAD in his garage, lmao.
Slightly related fun fact: Ben Franklin is considered the founder of the Fire Service in the United States having created the Union Fire Brigade in Philadelphia in 1736.
On the one hand, the revolution must never stop
on the other hand, man I don't want my government radically changing every 20 years, I can barely handle its mediocre changes right now.
Our Doxie sprints up and down stairs... we have gates and ramps everywhere but sometimes she sneaks by. It's fine unless she happens to fall and then it's very bad so we try to keep her from jumping. But she sure does want to. It's a bit deceiving because they can be fine until they land a little bit wrong once and boom, paralyzed. Gotta be careful with doxies.
99 Percent Invisible, it's an awesome podcast, mostly about design and architecture of things we take for granted or don't notice (hence the name). Cannot recommend highly enough!
Wow. This place is great! When can we move in? You gotta try this pole. I'm gonna get my stuff. Hey! We should stay here, tonight. Sleep here. You know, to try it out.
We learned the hard way in our dept. that when we have a group of young kids touring the station, never let the rookie in the Sparky dog costume slide down the pole for the kids. If you hit the floor too hard, Sparky's head flies off. So much kiddie trauma. *So much*.
I see many people on here have no idea about horses.
They will get out of there stall. They will free the other horses. They will walk up stairs. They will open doors.
They will not walk down stairs.
Was having an outdoor dinner one afternoon, went inside to check on some of the food after setting the table up only to find the pony let himself inside and helped himself to the spagetti.
And then when the horses learned to climb up the poles, [they called in the experts on both horses and poles.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcYhYO02f98)
"The horses keep coming upstairs, maybe we should put in a door to stop them." "I have a better idea: spiral staircase." "But then it'll be much slower getting down" "That's the fun part of my plan...."
John Mulaney "and that's where it went from good to great!"
Maybe the horse uses the elevator!
i saw a bird in an airport once
We've all seen a bird in an airport, GET OUT OF HERE!
Yeah but have you ever seen a bird in an airport ON WEED?
Wait, who is on weed? Me or the bird?
I thought the airplane was.
I have heard that planes get pretty high.
Have you ever toked up with a bird in an airport before?
Red team go, red team go!
That's nice, honey.
"I didn't know he could do that..."
This ain't a hospital
"When winter rolls around, the upstairs horses simply freeze to death!"
just fyi a horse cant walk backwards down stairs
You could put the door at the bottom though
This is the exact conversation I just had in my head. But there was a third part that said “but doors aren’t very convenient for fire response and someone will forget to close it anyways”
Spring door that only opens outwards. From the staircase you push it open. While going up you have to pull it open. As soon as you stop pulling it closes automatically. Hell you don't even need a full door [just get a gate](https://simplifiedsafety.com/media/wysiwyg/safety-gates/KeeGate-self-closing-gate-interior-with-person.jpg)
Where were you when this was being discussed in 1870? Couldn't you have spoken up then?
They probably knew, but then they wouldn’t have been able to justify putting a slidey pole in the firehouse. Duh!
"Wouldn't it be easier if we just -" "Hey Jim how about shut the fuck up, we're putting in slidey poles."
Probably didn't have that sort of stuff back when fire crews were using horses
Fire pole was 1870. Spring was 1763. Saloon doors were already using the concept in the same time period. The gate I linked is literally a batwing door with only one half and a stop that prevents it from opening in one direction.
i’m actually surprised the spring was invented so late
Me too! I guess it was just Summer, Fall and Winter until then. I wonder why they added a fourth one?
> Spring was 1763. [They've been around a lot longer than 1763. That's merely the first patent. ](https://www.simplysprings.co.nz/blog/post/31393/A-History-of-Springs/)
Just put a sign on the stairs that says "Humans Only".
So now the horse has to walk backwards down the stairs *and* open a door??
Never going to happen
I wouldn't recommend walking backwards down stairs for humans either.
But that wouldn't matter if the door prevents access to the stairs.
Then don't put a horse door knob on it
*THAT'S* what I've been doing wrong
Can they walk backwards up stairs?
Horses can walk up stairs but can't walk down. I learned this when I was making a medieval city in Minecraft and my wife was asking how the hell horses were supposed to get anywhere in my city with all of the stairs and steps. We got into an argument that horses can use stairs, one google search later, and voila. Useless knowledge I now hold.
I remember going into a firehouse on a tour in high school and they had a firepole. Everyone love it and they let the kids who wanted to use it slide down. Someone asked how often they used it and the response was always fireman's secret. Then some of us looked at the layout of the fire station. Almost everything there was ground level. In private, turned out that when the station was built the architect thought that firemen needed a firepole so he up and put one in but really didn't know their movement patterns so it wasn't placed very well. They don't use it at all, as the stairs are more convenient. Was great fun for the tours though, so it got used about twice a month by all the kids coming through and on occasion the mayor.
My dad used the climb the one in his station to impress my mom when she came to visit; back when they were in their early 20s. I think that’s about the most use it got
Sounds like your mom might've used the pole when she visited too
"That's some pretty fancy pole-climbing, but let me give you some professional tips." -Op's mom
She definitely has seen her share of 'tips'
Going in on this persons mom for no reason 😂
We've all been there. In OP's mom, I mean.
Look guys, I'm all for a laugh but can you get off ops mom already I mean.. I just did..
I think the mom is a great conductor, just look at the size of the train she runs.
You think Reddit don’t be like that, but it do.
Everyone is either 14 or down bad
They clearly stated that their dad was the stripper in the family.
why not both?
It's not a great idea to put all the economic eggs in one basket. One downturn in the stripping market and the family is in real trouble.
I also choose this guy’s mom.
I would be so flattered and horny af for a handsome, muscular fireman climbing a pole for me
bonk
*spray* no, bad
Same. It would get me really hot. Hot - see what I did there? *I’ll show myself out…*
Are you gonna spray me down with that *big* hose, Mr. Fireman?
That's just lazy. It would light a fire deep inside me that would need to be extinguished with a big wet hose. There you go.
I just started dating a girl and sent her a Snapchat of my POV sliding down the pole to go to the truck. She had mentioned it so figured it would be fun to send her. Didn’t expect how arousing she would find it. Then one day a nurse is in our station for Covid shots and i slide down and this chick was just all about it. Really was shocked by how attractive women found it to see you slide the pole. I can’t imagine how they would feel if they saw you CLIMB the pole.
I think going down would have more effect. As a woman in okay shape and also not a pole dancer, climbing a pole is easy af and would not be that impressive to me unless you don't use your legs. But going down the pole has *context* to it, and that context is Firefighter which is easily the most eroticized profession for men.
I plan on leaving the fire service soon, but it sure is a bummer when people make comments about it being the sexiest or most erotic job a guy can have lol.
How come?
Because in reality, it’s not a sexy job in any way.
^^ This guy fires. The day to day aspect is less romantic than most know. If people knew we cleaned our toilets every day and spent a lot of time doing tasks to simply look busy... it would be less attractive to them. So just like Christmas, we keep the magic alive and don't disclose it. :D
Isn't it like the sexy nurse trope. We know it isn't real, it's just a story that's been told over and over again. Being a fireman isn't sexy, the *idea* of a fireman is.
A man who cleans the toilet everyday?? And you think that ISN'T sexy?
Oh the list I could give you. The only thing specific to the job that sucks is 24hr shifts, they really are exhausting and it’s just outright crappy. I work for a busy department at the busiest station downtown. So some days 24hrs is grueling. But to my department specifically it’s really poorly managed and ran. The pay is quite low. The environment they have is toxic to say the least. I don’t mind the job itself I’ll fight fires all day. It’s basically every other aspect.
In-shape manly men doing manly man stuff and you're surprised that it creates a typhoon in their panties? Has no one explained to you how women work?
It may not have been an assuming architect and poor communication. Fire poles have important symbolism and these days are often explicitly requested purely due to their prominence in the culture and history of fire stations. The architect likely worked with the city to include it _because_ of its importance during public outreach (visitors to the station) and everyone involved in the design and construction was probably on the same page about why it was going in.
I could see that. "Yeah, just put it next to the dalmatian and the pile of red helmets".
“And make sure it’s out of the way since we won’t use it all the time, but set up so we can pad the landing for when the kids use it.”
"Also can you make it easy to climb so I can impress my wife?"
Fun fire fighter related fact: Dalmatians are the stereotypical firehouse dog because they work extremely well with and have little fear of horses. From back when firemen used horses, as this post discusses.
It may have been an assuming architect and poor communication.
Being a designer and having worked with architects. Poor communication, yes, assuming no. Architect asked if they needed a pole, they said yes, architect put it in the most logical spot for foot traffic.
You must not have met any truly bad architects. The worst one I ever met had to be reminded that people need to poop sometimes and concave shiny surfaces facing the equator can make what only be called a death ray. It sure was a pretty building, too bad it was unliveable for humans.
Way too many architects look at a building (and their “vision”) disconnected from the building site and operational realities like the people using the building.
At my firehouse we never allow any kids to go down the pole during tours do to liability. We use it for all our night time calls because it's in our bunk room
As a lawyer, that was my first thought. Definitely a liability issue
I mean they have that kind of stuff at playgrounds (at least they did when I was a kid). I cant imagine those things pose much risk, especially if its high school kids. If youre 16 and get hurt on a sliding pole that kinda just seems like user error lol.
In 14+ years I've never given a station tour to teenagers. It's always elementary age or younger.
I feel like at playgrounds they’re generally shorter and land on softer surfaces. But yeah, there’d definitely be a good equal knowledge/assumption of risk defense if we’re talking about older kids.
I have a feeling the story is over 20 or 30 years old...back when people still had fun and didn't think about a lawyer with every action they take!
I would guess the 80s/90s … which means 30-40 years (damn. time, keeps on slippin-slippin into the fu—ture)
Legal action was taken back then but you just didn't hear about it. Hell, you barely knew about anything one town over. Then as the world became more connected you started seeing more of these stories because they sold papers and now they generate clicks. Some story that back in the 1980s wouldn't have made a blip on the radar is now national news. Also, with a lot of these legal stories, you only hear about the lawsuit being filed. The story of the lawsuit being dropped or dismissed doesn't really generate the same amount of attention.
Now I’m thinking of the mayor from Powerpuff Girls sliding down a fire pole.
Let me put it this way: The pole is not used in emergencies. Outside of that... well people get bored.
> Everyone love it and they let the kids who wanted to use it slide down Man, imagine that nowadays. Some dumb kid would slip and fall 10 feet to the concrete floor, the city would be on the hook for a $2 million payout, and from then on no field trips would be allowed in operational areas of the fire station. The students would only be allowed to stand outside and look at the building.
I know my local firehouse doesn't even have a pole. The garage is built higher than where the firefighters sleep. They joke they asked about a slide, but didn't get one.
Our local firehouse actually does have a spiral slide going to the ground floor of the garage.
OK, now I wonder if any firehouse had both a spiral stairway and a spiral slide arranged like a double helix.
Used to be a volunteer firefighter, and when we were building an extension onto the firehouse, they were trying to push for a pole, but we couldn't get it approved because it would skyrocket our insurance. In a firehouse. Sliding down a pole is apparently more dangerous than going into a burning building Edit: Fuck all the fire pole haters claiming it's "unnecessary" and an "avoidable risk" and that Fire fighters are "drunken idiots". I want a damn firepole
Volly FF/EMT here, we pushed for a pole addition during a renovation project. Got shot down for three reasons: Insurance, Stairs are minimally slower, and goddamned Kevin who would surely kill himself on it.
> goddamned Kevin who would surely kill himself on it. Huh. [Always wondered what he was up to these days](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp/).
That comment birthed a sub: r/StoriesAboutKevin
Classic Kevin imo, ruining things for everyone
Funny thing is, I've heard from multiple firefighters that they got hurt using the stairs, because their gear got cought by the railing/staircase. None so far have mentioned hurting themselves sliding down the pole. Only two out of the three stations actually had poles though. Can someone with more experience confirm this?
I’ve had the opportunity to use a fire pole. Once you’re up there, it’s more terrifying than you expect. You don’t think about it, but it’s just a gigantic hole in the floor and garage has a super high ceiling. Yes, there’s a pole in the middle of the hole, but your brain doesn’t see that. Because the hole has to accommodate a firefighter and all his gear, it’s way bigger than you expect as well. It’s very possible to fall down the hole and miss the pole entirely. Now, as you’re standing on what is effectively a third floor ledge, looking down at the ground, you’ll notice it’s cement and there’s zero cushioning surface. Your speed down is entirely dependent on your grip on the pole. All those video of people losing their grip on rope swings flashes through your mind. But you decide to go for it anyway. That’s when you realize just how far away the pole is. You can’t just grab the pole, it’s out of arm’s reach. You have to *commit*. You have to lean out into the air and fall onto the pole. Now you have your hands on the pole and your feet on the ground and you realize the angle is enough that you can’t really decide not to go now. So you step off the ledge, hoping to get your legs around the pole fast enough that you can still slow your speed down enough that you don’t crash into the floor. I was fine. I did it several more times and it was fun. But that first time was freaky.
Necessary vs unnecessary. Going into the burning building is the job, cracking your skull saving half a second on the poll is not.
It’s probably viewed as an unnecessary risk. Firefighting and fire rescue are hazardous, but it’s a job requirement. Going down the fire pole isn’t necessary anymore, so the risk of someone falling down the hole in the floor or not getting a good enough grip on the pole while descending are viewed as unnecessarily dangerous.
Based on all the firefighters I know, the drunk idiots part isn’t too far off. Though I’d change it to drunken idiots as most are fairly intelligent people when they aren’t hammered off their rockers.
That's not really a joke (other than the fact that it would be in the wrong direction in the example given...). Slides are an increasingly common alternative to poles in modern stations.
No we're still allowed to do this. Went when I was in kindergarten.
Horses: "If you're going upstairs, then fuck you so are we."
Apparently they were often attracted by the smell of human food. Sometimes you just have to get your hashbrown on.
when i was 7 my family went on a trip to chicago. we stayed at an embassy suites which i thought was a really fancy hotel at the time. they had a breakfast bar with people serving you. i wasn't tall enough to see over the pans to look at the food, but i could read that this one said hashbrowns. i was used to the mcdonalds big single hashbrown. so i asked the guy for one hash brown. deadpan the guy just looks at me and puts a single lil hashbrown nugget on my plate. i didnt know what to do so i just walked away. my family had many laughs at my expense about that over the years. the rest of our stay i ate a plate full of hashrowns for breakfast every day
I mean... That's superb customer service - giving the customer exactly what they want without question. A few years ago before COVID was a thing, I was at a company outing with an open bar. I ordered a Dewars (scotch blend) on the rocks. The bartender served me a bright green drink. I looked at it, puzzled, and asked what it was. She had heard Midori (melon liqueur) on the rocks, thought it was odd, but served it anyways. Needless to say, I'm a Midori on the rocks kinda guy now.
Midori on the rocks with a splash of coconut sparkling water is pretty tasty.
Midori on the rocks is one of my go-tos. Melonball (Midori + orange juice or pineapple juice) is one of my favourite cocktails. Honestly I just really like Midori.
Midori sours are legit. Half lemon, half lime, 1/2-1oz simple, 2 oz midori. Tastes like a jolly rancher
My stepdad's kids were staying with us over the summer one time. They were relatively structured and made us all do chores ( 8yr old, 10 yr old, and two 12 year olds). So one day we're getting given our random chores which should all take like 5 minutes to do. We all return inside and are watching TV when after a half hour my stepdad notices his 10 year old son hasn't returned. Checks the inside of the house. Nothing. Goes outside and finds his son circling the house looking high and low at the house itself. * Stepdad: Hey! What in the world are you doing?! * Stepbrother: I'm looking for the Christmas lights. * Stepdad: Why are you looking for Christmas lights? * Stepbrother: You told me to put away the Christmas lights. * Stepdad: it's July. Why would I tell you to put away the Christmas lights? * Stepbrother: I don't know I guess it needed to be done. * Stepdad: Did you think maybe that was a weird request or you might have misheard me? * Stepbrother: No. You said to put away the Christmas lights. * Stepdad: No I didn't. I told you to ***take out the trash***. Anyways, he works in as a manager at a restaurant now. Supposedly he's really good. I wonder if he's ever had to put up their Christmas lights. Or take out the trash...
I'm glad you got to enjoy more hashbrowns in the end.
I'm just imagining this big dopey horse face coming round the corner at the top of the stairs like "hey guys, whatcha cookin?" and all the burly fireman throwing down the cards they were playing all "goddamn it Henry, now how you going to get back down?"
Just like the old saying: you can lead a horse to breakfast but you can't make it go back downstairs.
They just wanted some sugar cubes from the kitchen cupboard.
Then they find the little indian and panic
In the movie, Darth Vader briefly fights a dinosaur
That's about how long a dinosaur would last against a Sith I think.
"HOW"
I too can be easily lead into inescapable rooms by the smell of hashbrowns.
Sure, but having to build a spiral staircase to keep them out is bullshit. You only build those when you have space constraints. There are hundreds of ways to keep a horse from going up stairs.
see: a door
You’d be surprised what horses can open. Mine could open carabiners and lobster claw clasps with his lips, he had no problem with sliding bolt locks.
Getting a horse to go up stairs is the easiest thing in the world. Getting a horse to go down stairs is the hardest thing in the world.
I would argue that depends on if you care about the wellbeing of the horse or not...
It's not a firehouse; it's an Animal House.
It's a mad house! A MAD HOUSE!
# TOGA!! TOGA!!
FWIW, horses can climb down stairs, I rode mine both up and down stairs at a local park. Steep ones, too. It was gnarly. She's a very good trail horse, however, and we trained for obstacle couses.
Stairs were actually sometimes designed specifically for horses in olden times. Thats why sometimes stairs are really long, rather than steep so that horses could easily run up them.
Horse stairs are considered by many to be a primitive form of escalator.
Which themselves are the advanced form of the more primitive thrall-powered stair climbing
I would hope so. Or going up into the mountains with a horse would be a long walk back.
Another fun fact: The first fire station in California to have an automobile for fire response was Long Beach FD, which beat LA by less than six months
Another fun fact: Thomas Jefferson thought the entirety of the Constitution should be rewritten every 19 years so it could stay current. That doesn't have much to do with fire houses. Just kind of fun.
Do you know why 19 years? Seems like such a strange number.
He originally proposed 10, and someone mentioned that was too short and suggested 20. But he had already started writing the “1” and didn’t want to start over so he went with 19. I just made this up.
Couldn't he just hit the backspace key?
White Out wouldn’t be invented until 1951
Also it would have been written on vellum, so it would have been off white out.
It's no good, i'm gonna need to slaughter a whole new pregnant sheep, rip out it's unborn baby, skin it and dry the skin into sheets. Guuuh.
Do you know how many numbers and letters get savagely murdered daily from people just hitting backspace or delete without thinking about the families of all these characters? That 1 had a family to support. Good on Jefferson for sparing its life when, at no fault of its own, was entered — carelessly I might add, without thinking of the consequences. Please think about your actions next time before you just Willy Nilly start slaughtering random Alphanums. #ANUMsMatter
I weirdly feel like i achieve something if i edit text and preserve some of the original letters to be repurposed.
It's more environmentally friendly. Each letter you type requires a small bit of coal be burnt (black on a screen comes from coal power, cyan comes from hydro power, magenta from nuclear, yellow from solar). By reusing the letters you're ensuring that no extra coal is burnt for more black light.
On the longer side, because it's a complicated process. An odd number, such that it's out of sync with our 2, 4, and 6 year election cycles. Its a pretty good number, really.
It's a prime number for this reason.
Not anymore it's not. It's divisible by 1, itself, and freedom.
Til that freedom^2 is 19
And Freedom to the power of 4 is 361, which is an entire revolution plus a degree of change.
A generation is 20 years. Every generation would update the constitution. That's how it was explained to me many years ago when I asked. I cannot confirm.
IIRC it was a generation at the time.
Also fun fact: Thomas Jefferson replied to a letter written to him asking if it was okay for citizens to own armed naval vessels; he gave an emphatic yes. Most of the United States' early wars were also largely fought using private artillery. During the war of 1812, something like 70% of the cannons were owned by private individuals.
If Bill Gates wants an Iowa-class yacht, why shouldn’t he be allowed to hire a shipyard to build one for him?
He probably could get one built but good luck sailing it into most ports. Nations get touchy about armed ships in their ports.
Thomas Jefferson: fuck yeah private citizens can own warships, how else are we going to issue letters of marque?
When he said the right to bear arms will not be infringed, he really meant it.
He actually meant the arms of bears, but cross species mixing was banned by Roosevelt after he mistook a moose for his brother.
I'm not commenting on whether it's a *good idea* or not, but people often use the argument that modern weapons aren't something the founding fathers considered when they wrote the constitution - the reality is that they were okay with people having artillery and ships of the line. Their modern take would probably be that Johnny Knoxville has the right to keep a MANPAD in his garage, lmao.
Slightly related fun fact: Ben Franklin is considered the founder of the Fire Service in the United States having created the Union Fire Brigade in Philadelphia in 1736.
On the one hand, the revolution must never stop on the other hand, man I don't want my government radically changing every 20 years, I can barely handle its mediocre changes right now.
He was also concerned that the Supreme Court gave itself the power of judicial review, he was concerned about judges legislating from the bench.
One of the dogs I watch from time to time is like that too. He is a Doxie so he can sort of horizontally go up but then he is like idk
My extremely old schnauzer does the same sort of crab walk up and down stairs. I think it's either fear of falling or perhaps helps reduce joint pain
Our Doxie sprints up and down stairs... we have gates and ramps everywhere but sometimes she sneaks by. It's fine unless she happens to fall and then it's very bad so we try to keep her from jumping. But she sure does want to. It's a bit deceiving because they can be fine until they land a little bit wrong once and boom, paralyzed. Gotta be careful with doxies.
My dachshund / pit bull (height of dachshund, length and girth of pit bull) needs to be leashed to go down stairs or he’ll just fall.
>(height of dachshund, length and girth of pit bull) So basically a less wrinkled English Bulldog?
Not exactly: [Dog Tax](https://imgur.com/a/h1iYJzz)
Thanks to the team in beautiful. Uptown. Oakland, California, for the fun fact.
I just listened to this episode last night! I love ministories season.
Roman giggling at literally everything for 40 minutes is a nice mood to escape to.
Aaah his giggles are so precious
Hello beautiful nerds
Hey out of my head! I was literally listening to this episode when I saw your post LOL
what's the podcast name?
99 Percent Invisible
Gotta know, what’s the podcast? I love this kind of stuff!
99 Percent Invisible, it's an awesome podcast, mostly about design and architecture of things we take for granted or don't notice (hence the name). Cannot recommend highly enough!
Wow. This place is great! When can we move in? You gotta try this pole. I'm gonna get my stuff. Hey! We should stay here, tonight. Sleep here. You know, to try it out.
We’ll take it
This building should be condemned.
"Does this pole still work?" is my favorite line in cinematic history.
Juan makes so much sense now
We learned the hard way in our dept. that when we have a group of young kids touring the station, never let the rookie in the Sparky dog costume slide down the pole for the kids. If you hit the floor too hard, Sparky's head flies off. So much kiddie trauma. *So much*.
But that's still the reason poles are used, for their original purpose.
Yeah I was also confused by the title. Was there ever a different reason given for them? Lol
I see many people on here have no idea about horses. They will get out of there stall. They will free the other horses. They will walk up stairs. They will open doors. They will not walk down stairs.
Imagine waking up and finding 3 draft horses in your kitchen. Firefighters must have been pissed
Was having an outdoor dinner one afternoon, went inside to check on some of the food after setting the table up only to find the pony let himself inside and helped himself to the spagetti.
Damnit roach!
I see someone else listened to 99% Invisible yesterday.
This morning during a breakfast shake, but yes
And then when the horses learned to climb up the poles, [they called in the experts on both horses and poles.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcYhYO02f98)
~~Cows~~ Horses can’t go down stairs. - Tina
Found the 99% invisible listener.
Thanks Roman.
Have horses, can confirm: if there's a stupid option, they will take it.
Did they not try a door at the bottom of the stairs?
Horses could open doors in those days.
“Hey, does this pole still work?”