OT: German Engineering Thoroughness

[Wilhammer]

A vendor has just given me a Steadtler 4000 ink pen. Most unusual looking thing.

What really struck me was the clear plastic "prism" box it came in, and the labeling in 4 languages that says;

"Place into pocket only when tip is fully retracted."

An American pen company would never put this label on its box as it would imply that somehow they would be liable for any ruined shirts as lawyers would consider it an exculpatory clause.

[Slapdragon]

Although Wilhammer, a certain American directional mine does have a molded label on it that says: "Place Front Toward Enemy". Of course I suspect that this is for a completely different reason than the label on you pen box, and typical of Americans, is only in English...

[:USERNAME:]

I always thought that was some advice. Is front and rear labeled on this directional mine?

[Private Pike]

Interestingly I always assumed that this sort of silly warning WAS for the American market with its "lawyer" culture (or at least thats the perception we seem to get in Europe). If you've been warned you are less able to sue.

I've just bought a new American PCR machine for work and it came with about twenty pages of warning about not doing all sorts of silly things which I would never have dreamed of doing in the first place.

[IntelWeenie]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Slapdragon:

Although Wilhammer, a certain American directional mine does have a molded label on it that says: "Place Front Toward Enemy". Of course I suspect that this is for a completely different reason than the label on you pen box, and typical of Americans, is only in English...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I always wondered at the logic behind this since grenades aren't labeled "Throw toward enemy". Muzzles of rifles and MGs should also have those "Danger" arrows like they do on jet intakes on aircraft.

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Cats aren't clean, they're covered with cat spit.

[groundpounder]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Slapdragon:

Although Wilhammer, a certain American directional mine does have a molded label on it that says: "Place Front Toward Enemy". Of course I suspect that this is for a completely different reason than the label on you pen box, and typical of Americans, is only in English...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, and on those same mines we would write "If you can read this you're to close".

GP

"If you can't remember, the claymore is pointed towards you. "

[Chupacabra]

When I was a kid, I used to go trick or treating for Holloween, like everyone else.

The crappiest treat I ever got was a Holloween-themed notepad. I kid you not. All the other houses were giving out the good stuff, these freaking dorks were giving stationary.

Anyway, amazed at the sheer crappiness of it all, I threw this thing in the corner of my room, where it rested for many years, gathering dust.

Fast forward to high school. I had a bunch of people in my room, and there was one girl who I was desperately trying to hook up with. I asked her for her number, and LO! she said okay. So I rush around to try to find some paper. None in sight. By some miracle I come across this stupid Halloween notepad, still lying where I'd thrown it years before. I rip the package open, write down the girl's number, and all is well.

After everyone left, I looked at the notepad's packaging. The front showed a vampire writing a note in blood. Below this picture was a line reading "WARNING: Only write notes in ink, never in blood."

From then on, this has been the apotheosis of stupid cover-yr-ass warnings for me.

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Soy super bien, soy super super bien, soy bien bien super bien bien bien super super.