Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Superglue helps protesters in Edinburgh

I am amused.

Apparently, in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, there have been some climate protests.  People who are genuinely concerned about where our world is going so they've taken to the streets.  Finding a corporate shill that they believe is a partial cause to our global warming, the protesters have taken chaining themselves to it to another level.

They superglue themselves to it.

Superglue is a fairly common item in the US, and I would imagine in Scotland and the West.  I assume there are few people who haven't used it, but if you are that person, there's a problem with superglue.  It sticks to "everything", especially skin.  The glue is watery and clear, has a pungent odor, and will bond immediately to your skin.  To remove it or unstick yourself from yourself, you either use nail polish remover (acetone) or you pry gently apart the afflicted items with soap and water and perhaps a spatula.  Make sure that you don't breathe in the fumes directly.  Some folks can become quite allergic to the fumes and they result in flu like symptoms in about 5% of those exposed.

Once I was working with some superglue in my house.  It was summer, I was in the third floor bedroom of my old house in Philly, and it was warm.  My shoes and socks were off and my bare feet were resting on a heavy plastic floor mat that my chair rolled on.  Of course, I spilled the superglue on my feet and was almost immediately stuck to the floor. 

That will teach me to use the stuff when I'm sipping on a beer, right?  Three beers is even more stupid...

Luckily the floor was a little dusty due to the cockatoo dust from the bird next to my desk and my feet came up after a little bit of surprise and annoyance.

Going back to the protesters, these folks are sticking themselves to buildings, fences and former Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown's suit coat.  Mr Brown merely removed his coat and was freed from this person, so sticking yourself for Shock And Awe is something that you should do carefully or else your effectiveness is going to be reduced.

Stick to sticking yourself to a Tesco supermarket instead of a former PM.  Much more effective, and annoying too. 

As for removal, I've always found it somewhat painful to remove my foot from a floor, so I can imagine these folks are in for an uncomfortable episode.  I'm sitting here amused and wondering if it might just be best to cordon off the area and allow the stuck individuals to stay put until they remove themselves from the item - and not allow them help.  Cordon them off and allow people to point and laugh.  After about 8 or 16 hours, Nature would call I'm sure...

"Hey Charlie, you're still stuck to the Tesco's front door, it's been three days, don't you wish you brought along the nail polish remover?!?!?"

Ahh the work of a protester is never done!

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