Today, as I was walking up the escalator at Euston Station, which I do most weekdays, I noticed that TFL had invested in some swanky new signs, yet more health & safety overload, that informed passengers of the various ‘hazards’ of using an escalator!!!
Such useful tips as ‘hold the hand rail’ and ‘you are nearing the end of the escalator’. What made me laugh, was just how much we have been conditioned to accept this kind of stuff. We see it as so normal that we are being programmed to believe, that without all this ‘protection’ and information, we would be unable to think for ourselves, unable to travel around without injuring ourselves on escalators.
How has the human race survived this long. Perhaps, inventing escalators, without such warnings, might have led to our eventual demise. ‘Mass carnage at escalators, threatens humankind’ could have been the headline if it wasn’t for the intervention of TFL.
The thing is, we are now creating a world, where we do not have to think for ourselves. That is exactly what the establishment wants, total compliance, and not to question or think on our own.
So be careful out there, risks are everywhere!! Perhaps, in future we will have removed all chance and what a dull, pointless world it will be. A world where the masses shuffle like drones, to and from the ‘factory’, eking out an existence, safely following instructions and rules.
For me, I’m happy to trip on an escalator, if that means there is the risk of something exciting in life.
Perhaps, it could be changed to ‘you are nearing the end of your life, take a risk turn around and walk back down the escalator.’
Philip Dodson 