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Darwin Awards
2008 Slush Pile

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Too smart to ba a Carney

2008 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

During college break, me and several friends took jobs in concession trailers. These are the food vendors at carnivals and local festivals. It was a great job and I have many stories from those days, but this was the a case of being too smart for the job.

My friend Brett was majoring in Electrical Engineering. He was always lecturing us on electricity. At one particular festival, the trailer was connected directly to a transformer on the street. 220 Volt of electricity ran through this trailer, and Brett noticed that there was a short.

He had me come over to "Check this out". While explaining the probable reasons for the short, he removed the groud wire to "prove" it. Huge sparks erputed from the wire whenever he touched it to the trailer. He promptly connected it back to the trailer after lecturing me on the importance of ground wires.

When he turned around to enter the trailer, he missed the step and stepped directly on the groun wire, disconnecting it from the frame of the trailer. His foot continued to the ground and into the street gutter, which was filled with water.

In order to prevent himself from falling, he reached out to the nearest support, which was the trailer. becoming the substitute ground wire.

It took me about 2 seconds to realize that Brett was being electrocuted. While I was looking for a 2X4 to knock him off the trailer, he somehow released himself from the trailer, collapsing on the sidewalk.

After about 5 minutes he got up. Except for some burns on his hands and feet, he was OK.

And that is why Electrical engineers are not electricians

Submitted on 08/29/2008

Submitted by: John Hatheway
Reference:

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

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Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
LOL!!! This is the kind of story I love! And this going on when he KNEW there was a clear and present danger. Thanks, John!


Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
So does he still give lectures on the dangers of short circuits now that he's had some direct experience with them? Thanks, John!


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