New park bench with steel spikes on a timer in China.

[spud_meister]

new park bench with steel spikes on a timer « Pure Strange – Strange Stuff Found On The Web

Park officials in China have found a way to stop people from hogging their benches for too long – by fitting steel spikes on a coin-operated timer.

If visitors at the Yantai Park in Shangdong province, eastern China, linger too long without feeding the meter, dozens of sharp spikes shoot through the seat.

:lol::lol:

They really get to the point in China, don't they.

(I'm sorry for that pun, I couldn't help myself)

 

[Apocalypse]

That timer must be a pain in the ass.

 

[Gipper]

Don't be a prick.

 

[Hoplite]

10 bucks says someone is going to take a hammer to it in the next few days

 

[Harshaw]

This is the kind of thing you actually get after you've killed all the lawyers.

 

[theangryamerican]

I would bring a thin piece of plywood with a seat cushion on top and sit comfortably on the bench all day long. Screw you, Communist Bench, with your equal sitting time for everyone!

 

[Orion]

Haven't been able to confirm this from an official source, but if it's true it doesn't surprise me. It's an example to show the kind of capitalism China has now, and the kind the western neo-liberals want: where companies control and make money off of every facet of life. This is just excessive.

From the site where that pic came from:

Park bosses got the idea from an art installation in Germany where sculptor Fabian Brunsing created a similar bench as a protest against the commercialisation of modern life.

Doesn't get more ironic than that.

 

[Jetboogieman]

Hey man, all it takes is for one jogger to trip, and smash his skull on one of these things. Those don't look all that friendly to bone + momentum.

 

[Dezaad]

I would bring a thin piece of plywood with a seat cushion on top and sit comfortably on the bench all day long. Screw you, Communist Bench, with your equal sitting time for everyone!

Ummm, free park benches are more communist than ones that charge. Ayn Rand would definitely applaud China on this innovation.

 

[Dav]

Screw you, Communist Bench, with your equal sitting time for everyone!

I was just thinking about how good a metaphor that was when I saw this:

It's an example to show the kind of capitalism China has now, and the kind the western neo-liberals want: where companies control and make money off of every facet of life.

Within 7 posts, we already have both someone damning the bench as communist, and someone else damning the bench as capitalist. Must be a new record.

 

[Dav]

Really though, it says that this was done by "park officials"... since when were those members of a company? If parks are public in as free-market a country as the U.S., I would assume they would still be in a country as socialist as China.

It sounds to me like they made the benches not to make money off of them, but to keep people from sitting on a bench for what they deem to be too long. If a private company had been in charge, they'd probably just build more benches so that more people would want to come.

 

[Orion]

It is capitalist. The spikes have nothing to do with ensuring that others get a chance to sit. It's pay-bench, and if someone has unlimited money they can occupy it until the sun goes down. This is just to make money and nothing more.

Someone called it a communist bench just because it's in China, but as observers know, China is more capitalist now than even the U.S.

 

[Orion]

Really though, it says that this was done by "park authorities"... since when were those members of a company? If parks are public in as free-market a country as the U.S., I would assume they would still be in a country as socialist as China.

LOL... you think China is socialist? Please pick up a book.

Secondly... most members of government own big business, so the mix in China is almost complete. Our democracy is being erroded by the same behaviors... government and corporate powers coming together. China was just open about it from the start. We're still pretending like we've above it.

 

[Dav]

It is capitalist. The spikes have nothing to do with ensuring that others get a chance to sit. It's pay-bench, and if someone has unlimited money they can occupy it until the sun goes down. This is just to make money and nothing more.

Making money for the government. That's not capitalism.

Reading the article gives the impression that they just did this because parks are overcrowded and they don't want people hogging a bench for too long. Putting any price on something, even a penny, makes it significantly less in-demand than no price at all.

EDIT: Hell, they even admit their intent:

“We have to make sure the facilities are shared out evenly and this seems like a fair way to stop people grabbing a bench at dawn and staying there all day,” said one park official.

China is more capitalist now than even the U.S.

You must have a strange definition of capitalism.

LOL... you think China is socialist? Please pick up a book.

I am sorry for sharing the delusion that 99% of the population shares, including a whole lot of very well-read people. I didn't realize that one had to agree with you to be well-read.

Anyways, I said "as socialist", as in more socialist than the U.S. Does anyone who reads books disagree with this?

Secondly... most members of government own big business, so the mix in China is almost complete.

That's not capitalism though. It's certainly not free-market. Some might even go so far as to call it socialism.

Our democracy is being erroded by the same behaviors... government and corporate powers coming together.

I'd agree, but probably in the exact opposite way from what you meant.

 

[Ikari]

Oh no, you can't loiter. Too bad! What are these people acting all butt hurt for.


heheh

 

[theangryamerican]

Ummm, free park benches are more communist than ones that charge. Ayn Rand would definitely applaud China on this innovation.

Thank you for taking a joking comment completely out of context. I swear, some people need to try taking life not so seriously every now and again.

 

[Frozengale]

10 bucks says someone is going to take a hammer to it in the next few days

Are you kidding? I would steal that thing and hide it around town. Slip in a few quarters, hide the slot device, wait for someone to sit, and watch the magic happen.

 

[StandUpChuck]

This guy can't wait to try it out ....


http://www.debatepolitics.com/news-weird/59728-guy-tries-have-sex-park-bench-and-fails.html

 

[Aunt Spiker]

I guess no guys will be getting their wangs stuck in these benches!

Two birds
One stone

 

[jujuman13]

This is the kind of thing you actually get after you've killed all the lawyers.

Can we please try.

 

[peepnklown]

China was paid by a combine partnership of several cities across America to stop homeless people from using park benches as beds, living spaces, etc. Once tested by China, it will be mass market across America.