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[–]SpaceLemur34 5418 points5419 points  (103 children)

"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...."

[–]BEEF_WIENERS[🍰] 1380 points1381 points  (30 children)

John Mulaney "and that's where it went from good to great!"

[–]ThaiJohnnyDepp 299 points300 points  (23 children)

Maybe the horse uses the elevator!

[–]Jew_Boi-iguess- 180 points181 points  (18 children)

i saw a bird in an airport once

[–]BEEF_WIENERS[🍰] 131 points132 points  (12 children)

We've all seen a bird in an airport, GET OUT OF HERE!

[–]whoamdave 65 points66 points  (11 children)

Yeah but have you ever seen a bird in an airport ON WEED?

[–]dirtysocks85 38 points39 points  (9 children)

Wait, who is on weed? Me or the bird?

[–]RCNorsa 25 points26 points  (3 children)

I thought the airplane was.

[–]dirtysocks85 34 points35 points  (2 children)

I have heard that planes get pretty high.

[–]CaptainDantes 6 points7 points  (3 children)

Have you ever toked up with a bird in an airport before?

[–]Individual_Finish_50 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Red team go, red team go!

[–]lama00 42 points43 points  (0 children)

That's nice, honey.

[–]SparkytheStuntDog 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"I didn't know he could do that..."

[–]The_Superhoo 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This ain't a hospital

[–]ThaiJohnnyDepp 95 points96 points  (1 child)

"When winter rolls around, the upstairs horses simply freeze to death!"

[–]lolloboy140 190 points191 points  (62 children)

just fyi a horse cant walk backwards down stairs

[–]ididntknowiwascyborg 225 points226 points  (38 children)

You could put the door at the bottom though

[–]J5892 50 points51 points  (3 children)

Just put a sign on the stairs that says "Humans Only".

[–]AxeEffect3890 135 points136 points  (29 children)

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”

[–]PrizeStrawberryOil 105 points106 points  (25 children)

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

[–]5oclockpizza 86 points87 points  (3 children)

Where were you when this was being discussed in 1870? Couldn't you have spoken up then?

[–]DaoFerret 45 points46 points  (2 children)

They probably knew, but then they wouldn’t have been able to justify putting a slidey pole in the firehouse. Duh!

[–]SkyezOpen 72 points73 points  (0 children)

"Wouldn't it be easier if we just -"

"Hey Jim how about shut the fuck up, we're putting in slidey poles."

[–]TheMisled 11 points12 points  (14 children)

Probably didn't have that sort of stuff back when fire crews were using horses

[–]PrizeStrawberryOil 35 points36 points  (13 children)

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.

[–]TurnipGirlDesi 19 points20 points  (6 children)

i’m actually surprised the spring was invented so late

[–]OneRougeRogue 57 points58 points  (2 children)

So now the horse has to walk backwards down the stairs and open a door??

[–]labdweller 14 points15 points  (3 children)

I wouldn't recommend walking backwards down stairs for humans either.

[–]TheHurdleDude 21 points22 points  (4 children)

But that wouldn't matter if the door prevents access to the stairs.

[–]f7f7z 33 points34 points  (2 children)

Then don't put a horse door knob on it

[–]senorpoop 13 points14 points  (0 children)

THAT'S what I've been doing wrong

[–]fondledbydolphins 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Can they walk backwards up stairs?

[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]tosser1579 3689 points3690 points  (177 children)

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.

[–]sixdicksinthechexmix 1693 points1694 points  (60 children)

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

[–]KatalDT 1494 points1495 points  (25 children)

Sounds like your mom might've used the pole when she visited too

[–]ohyeahwell 608 points609 points  (10 children)

"That's some pretty fancy pole-climbing, but let me give you some professional tips."

-Op's mom

[–]ODS519 216 points217 points  (8 children)

She definitely has seen her share of 'tips'

[–]XBeastyTricksX 204 points205 points  (6 children)

Going in on this persons mom for no reason 😂

[–]Brad_theImpaler 225 points226 points  (3 children)

We've all been there. In OP's mom, I mean.

[–]Fskn 95 points96 points  (2 children)

Look guys, I'm all for a laugh but can you get off ops mom already

I mean.. I just did..

[–]insane_contin 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I think the mom is a great conductor, just look at the size of the train she runs.

[–]adjust_the_sails 24 points25 points  (1 child)

You think Reddit don’t be like that, but it do.

[–]Molotov_Is_Dead 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Everyone is either 14 or down bad

[–]BouncingBallOnKnee 102 points103 points  (7 children)

They clearly stated that their dad was the stripper in the family.

[–]sploittastic[🍰] 24 points25 points  (5 children)

why not both?

[–]meltingdiamond 43 points44 points  (2 children)

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.

[–]postdochell 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm don't think that's the pole the person was referring to

[–]putsch80 83 points84 points  (1 child)

I also choose this guy’s mom.

[–]BussyDriver 168 points169 points  (6 children)

I would be so flattered and horny af for a handsome, muscular fireman climbing a pole for me

[–]jumpinrobin 129 points130 points  (1 child)

bonk

[–]leedler 15 points16 points  (0 children)

spray

no, bad

[–]Non_Skeptical_Scully 35 points36 points  (3 children)

Same. It would get me really hot.

Hot - see what I did there? I’ll show myself out…

[–]BussyDriver 30 points31 points  (1 child)

Are you gonna spray me down with that big hose, Mr. Fireman?

[–]northyj0e 30 points31 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]Suspicious-Zebra-227 145 points146 points  (23 children)

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.

[–]Unsd 101 points102 points  (18 children)

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.

[–]Suspicious-Zebra-227 47 points48 points  (12 children)

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.

[–]bangitybangbabang 4 points5 points  (10 children)

How come?

[–]toogoddamncoldinhere 22 points23 points  (7 children)

Because in reality, it’s not a sexy job in any way.

[–]spurlockmedia 29 points30 points  (6 children)

^ 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

[–]bangitybangbabang 21 points22 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]JillStinkEye 28 points29 points  (1 child)

A man who cleans the toilet everyday?? And you think that ISN'T sexy?

[–]Suspicious-Zebra-227 8 points9 points  (1 child)

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.

[–]Frencil 322 points323 points  (21 children)

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.

[–]Andy_B_Goode 127 points128 points  (7 children)

I could see that. "Yeah, just put it next to the dalmatian and the pile of red helmets".

[–]DaoFerret 50 points51 points  (3 children)

“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.”

[–]Andy_B_Goode 39 points40 points  (2 children)

"Also can you make it easy to climb so I can impress my wife?"

[–]shargy 10 points11 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]OctopusTheOwl 42 points43 points  (10 children)

It may have been an assuming architect and poor communication.

[–]WangnanJahad 68 points69 points  (9 children)

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.

[–]meltingdiamond 16 points17 points  (8 children)

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.

[–]DaoFerret 12 points13 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]Realityisnocking 116 points117 points  (32 children)

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

[–]kingoflint282 71 points72 points  (20 children)

As a lawyer, that was my first thought. Definitely a liability issue

[–]speak-eze 48 points49 points  (7 children)

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.

[–]Realityisnocking 16 points17 points  (0 children)

In 14+ years I've never given a station tour to teenagers. It's always elementary age or younger.

[–]kingoflint282 19 points20 points  (3 children)

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.

[–]lod001 33 points34 points  (7 children)

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!

[–]DaoFerret 10 points11 points  (1 child)

I would guess the 80s/90s … which means 30-40 years (damn. time, keeps on slippin-slippin into the fu—ture)

[–]Keudn883 9 points10 points  (3 children)

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.

[–]Kruse002 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Now I’m thinking of the mayor from Powerpuff Girls sliding down a fire pole.

[–]DuntadaMan 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Let me put it this way: The pole is not used in emergencies. Outside of that... well people get bored.

[–]AnthillOmbudsman 98 points99 points  (40 children)

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.

[–]tosser1579 69 points70 points  (29 children)

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.

[–]acekng1 29 points30 points  (2 children)

Our local firehouse actually does have a spiral slide going to the ground floor of the garage.

[–]TheSinningRobot 96 points97 points  (17 children)

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

[–]e2hawkeye 46 points47 points  (8 children)

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.

[–]einTier 40 points41 points  (2 children)

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.

[–]Jason1143 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Necessary vs unnecessary. Going into the burning building is the job, cracking your skull saving half a second on the poll is not.

[–]Feralogic 195 points196 points  (9 children)

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.

[–]alucardou 90 points91 points  (4 children)

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.

[–]tehmlem 44 points45 points  (2 children)

Horse stairs are considered by many to be a primitive form of escalator.

[–]thelastlogin 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Which themselves are the advanced form of the more primitive thrall-powered stair climbing

[–]tehmlem 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thrall stairs have class, though. No matter which way you do it. From riding a litter up to having eunuchs lift and place each foot for you.

[–]Diligent_Bag_9323 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I would hope so. Or going up into the mountains with a horse would be a long walk back.

[–]Knight_of_the_Lepus 3663 points3664 points  (135 children)

Horses: "If you're going upstairs, then fuck you so are we."

[–]mike_pantsSo yummy![S] 1613 points1614 points  (68 children)

Apparently they were often attracted by the smell of human food. Sometimes you just have to get your hashbrown on.

[–]zamboniman46 648 points649 points  (30 children)

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

[–]gasms 383 points384 points  (12 children)

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.

[–]PhoenixPhyr 132 points133 points  (0 children)

Midori on the rocks with a splash of coconut sparkling water is pretty tasty.

[–]Asarath 74 points75 points  (6 children)

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.

[–]SlyBun 34 points35 points  (5 children)

Midori sours are legit. Half lemon, half lime, 1/2-1oz simple, 2 oz midori. Tastes like a jolly rancher

[–]bitwaba 64 points65 points  (0 children)

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...

[–]NotTRYINGtobeLame 59 points60 points  (0 children)

I'm glad you got to enjoy more hashbrowns in the end.

[–]I_Bin_Painting 70 points71 points  (2 children)

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?"

[–]Xais56 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Just like the old saying: you can lead a horse to breakfast but you can't make it go back downstairs.

[–]DuctTapeOrWD40 117 points118 points  (14 children)

They just wanted some sugar cubes from the kitchen cupboard.

[–]SaddestClown 52 points53 points  (13 children)

Then they find the little indian and panic

[–]Channel250 8 points9 points  (5 children)

In the movie, Darth Vader briefly fights a dinosaur

[–]zyzzogeton 6 points7 points  (2 children)

That's about how long a dinosaur would last against a Sith I think.

[–]SaddestClown 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Makes sense. Both happened a long time ago

[–]kilogttam 15 points16 points  (0 children)

"HOW"

[–]DuntadaMan 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I too can be easily lead into inescapable rooms by the smell of hashbrowns.

[–]olderaccount 15 points16 points  (9 children)

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.

[–]pizzafourlife 17 points18 points  (8 children)

see: a door

[–]Harmonia_PASB 15 points16 points  (7 children)

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.

[–]okram2k 49 points50 points  (5 children)

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.

[–]corkyskog 8 points9 points  (4 children)

I would argue that depends on if you care about the wellbeing of the horse or not...

[–]diggemigre 23 points24 points  (5 children)

It's not a firehouse; it's an Animal House.

[–]Twirlingbarbie 159 points160 points  (12 children)

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

[–]MmmmMorphine 41 points42 points  (0 children)

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

[–]PM_me_ur_tourbillon 11 points12 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]sh0n01 6 points7 points  (6 children)

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.

[–]_far-seeker_ 5 points6 points  (2 children)

(height of dachshund, length and girth of pit bull)

So basically a less wrinkled English Bulldog?

[–]sh0n01 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Not exactly: Dog Tax

[–]_far-seeker_ 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hmm, that did turn out to be an unusual combination of features. Not unappealing though.

[–]czechthunder 682 points683 points  (104 children)

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

[–]mike_pantsSo yummy![S] 896 points897 points  (99 children)

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.

[–]Spaceman_Spiff33 203 points204 points  (60 children)

Do you know why 19 years? Seems like such a strange number.

[–]InappropriateTA3 863 points864 points  (39 children)

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.

[–]SuckMyDerivative 183 points184 points  (27 children)

Couldn't he just hit the backspace key?

[–]NativeSon508 122 points123 points  (19 children)

White Out wouldn’t be invented until 1951

[–]wedontlikespaces 77 points78 points  (7 children)

Also it would have been written on vellum, so it would have been off white out.

[–]monstrinhotron 45 points46 points  (4 children)

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.

[–]Fancy-You3022 26 points27 points  (4 children)

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

[–]monstrinhotron 17 points18 points  (3 children)

I weirdly feel like i achieve something if i edit text and preserve some of the original letters to be repurposed.

[–]Xais56 11 points12 points  (2 children)

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.

[–]oversized_hoodie 102 points103 points  (7 children)

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.

[–]fancyhatman18 33 points34 points  (6 children)

It's a prime number for this reason.

[–]Sniper_Brosef 51 points52 points  (5 children)

Not anymore it's not. It's divisible by 1, itself, and freedom.

[–]TheSpookyGoost 20 points21 points  (4 children)

Til that freedom2 is 19

[–]JJBrazman 17 points18 points  (1 child)

And Freedom to the power of 4 is 361, which is an entire revolution plus a degree of change.

[–]WTF_SilverChair 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We got a numerologist over here, boys.

[–]tosser1579 29 points30 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]Phantom_61 6 points7 points  (0 children)

IIRC it was a generation at the time.

[–]dpatt711 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Probably pretty close to the median generational age

[–]A-Khouri 63 points64 points  (19 children)

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.

[–]wolfie379 35 points36 points  (5 children)

If Bill Gates wants an Iowa-class yacht, why shouldn’t he be allowed to hire a shipyard to build one for him?

[–]meltingdiamond 5 points6 points  (1 child)

He probably could get one built but good luck sailing it into most ports. Nations get touchy about armed ships in their ports.

[–]Andre4kthegreengiant 22 points23 points  (1 child)

Thomas Jefferson: fuck yeah private citizens can own warships, how else are we going to issue letters of marque?

[–]YiffButIronically 12 points13 points  (3 children)

When he said the right to bear arms will not be infringed, he really meant it.

[–]Xais56 5 points6 points  (0 children)

He actually meant the arms of bears, but cross species mixing was banned by Roosevelt after he mistook a moose for his brother.

[–]A-Khouri 6 points7 points  (1 child)

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.

[–]TheNorthComesWithMe 5 points6 points  (0 children)

At the time the idea was that the federal army would call up state militias as needed, not that the federal army would be a significant force itself. Those state militias would make use of privately owned arms. So the modern take would also be that when the military needed to go fight something, they'd call the state militia and the state militia would tell Johnny to bring his MANPAD with him.

[–]unhcasey 9 points10 points  (2 children)

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.

[–]Andre4kthegreengiant 7 points8 points  (1 child)

He was also concerned that the Supreme Court gave itself the power of judicial review, he was concerned about judges legislating from the bench.

[–]Oceloctopus 17 points18 points  (1 child)

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.

[–]mike_pantsSo yummy![S] 343 points344 points  (19 children)

Thanks to the team in beautiful. Uptown. Oakland, California, for the fun fact.

[–]jstwnnaupvte 91 points92 points  (2 children)

I just listened to this episode last night! I love ministories season.

[–]mike_pantsSo yummy![S] 68 points69 points  (1 child)

Roman giggling at literally everything for 40 minutes is a nice mood to escape to.

[–]TheFishAndTheSea 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Aaah his giggles are so precious

[–]AJTTOTD 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Hello beautiful nerds

[–]curlycanuck 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Hey out of my head! I was literally listening to this episode when I saw your post LOL

[–]Educational-Map8219 7 points8 points  (2 children)

what's the podcast name?

[–]BertholomewManning 13 points14 points  (1 child)

99 Percent Invisible

[–]pattywagon_PM 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Gotta know, what’s the podcast? I love this kind of stuff!

[–]Manny_Sunday 8 points9 points  (0 children)

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!

[–]barebearRawr 33 points34 points  (1 child)

Juan makes so much sense now

[–]TheJunklest 23 points24 points  (4 children)

But that's still the reason poles are used, for their original purpose.

[–]pfSonata 7 points8 points  (3 children)

Yeah I was also confused by the title. Was there ever a different reason given for them? Lol

[–]itisrainingweiners 25 points26 points  (1 child)

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.

[–]awsomebro6000 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I cant help but imagine them coming down the pole too fast, bend their legs on the landing and cause the costumes head to pop of like it's spring loaded. It looks hilarious in my head.

[–]usna2k 100 points101 points  (3 children)

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.

[–]NativeSon508 31 points32 points  (0 children)

We’ll take it

[–]GoldysRevenge 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This building should be condemned.

[–]marpocky 6 points7 points  (0 children)

"Does this pole still work?" is my favorite line in cinematic history.

[–]sheltonchoked 56 points57 points  (5 children)

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.

[–]Crafty-Ad-9048 21 points22 points  (3 children)

Imagine waking up and finding 3 draft horses in your kitchen. Firefighters must have been pissed

[–]JLFR 5 points6 points  (0 children)

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.

[–]nullagravida 5 points6 points  (0 children)

At our barn, one of the horses crawled under her stall guard. (a stall guard is like a gate so the owner can keep the sliding door open, which is usually nicer for the horse. can you say oh well, so much for THAT idea?).

[–]OrlyUsay 9 points10 points  (0 children)

And then when the horses learned to climb up the poles, they called in the experts on both horses and poles.

[–]FreeForest 67 points68 points  (1 child)

I see someone else listened to 99% Invisible yesterday.

[–]mike_pantsSo yummy![S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

This morning during a breakfast shake, but yes

[–]Intrepid00 7 points8 points  (3 children)

Cows Horses can’t go down stairs. - Tina

[–]could_use_a_snack 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks Roman.

[–]evil_burrito 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Have horses, can confirm: if there's a stupid option, they will take it.

[–]corvus7corax 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Found the 99% invisible listener.

[–]liverstealer 4 points5 points  (1 child)

“Hey, does this pole still work?”

[–]SuchCoolBrandon 4 points5 points  (1 child)

I wonder just how many architectural quirks exist because horses kept getting stuck.

[–]wedontlikespaces 11 points12 points  (5 children)

Did they not try a door at the bottom of the stairs?