I grew up in the 80s in a Southern California suburb. All the neighborhood kids used the transformer box as a meeting place. My first kiss was absolutely at one that looked really similar to this. I haven’t thought about Becky C. in decades.
Another transformer box story:
Before helicopter parenting was standard, folks used to let their kids wander around the neighborhood pretty much as soon as they could talk. All the kids watched each other. 12 year olds hanging out with 4 year olds. When I was part of the older kids group, we had convinced the younger kids (the ones that couldn’t yet read) that the transformer box was actually a trap that housed an electrical monster, thanks to this sticker:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Ouch
I’m pretty sure the recent release of Ghostbusters had influenced this story and the acceptance of it.
rumba@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
We used to bake mud pies on the transformer just like that in the summer heat at the apartments where I lived decades ago. We had no toys, so we were making due. Parents game out to yell at us to get away from it. But we never would stop. Eventually one of the fathers came out to make sure it was locked and safe and just let us carry on.
SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 1 day ago
Yep. The certified Dad solution
Glitterbomb@lemmy.world 1 day ago
The door locks, sure, and the entire thing is a good 200lbs+, but it’s often still just resting on top of the concrete pad. Kids probably can’t push it but an adult can probably hip check it an inch at a time.
Maybe a rider lawnmower bumps it and moves it 3 inches and now there’s a crevice between the concrete pad and the transformer that kids can reach into and grab high voltage power lines.
They ARE fairly safe, a lot of things have to go wrong, but bottom line it’s still something that will kill.
I’ve worked around them, and I never shooed or chastised any kids I saw playing on them. I’d just do a quick inspection with them, point out that it’s not crooked or bent or anything so they know what to look out for. I’d really prefer they didn’t play on it, but I get it
Zwiebel@feddit.org 1 day ago
Why tf aren’t they bolted down?
Like this one a car crashed into 1000097930
marcos@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Well. Are they grounded? Because they look like any loose wire or even induction could make the stuff on the photo lethal. Not something common, but pretty clearly one single point of failure.
If they are grounded, it would also not be viable for an adult to push it around.