I quite liked this other article of his on being banned from ever returning to the remote island of Tristan da Cunha.
http://laphamsquarterly.org/travel/take-nothing-leave-nothin...
In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
71–80 of 98 posts
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#72>"The black lungs of heavy smokers I would weigh once, then squeeze under cold running water for fifteen minutes until they became baby pink and tripelike, and then weigh again: the difference in the two figures, often a couple of pounds or more, was the weight of the tar and nicotine that quite possibly was the killer." A few pounds ? If you'd asked me, I would have guessed the weight of lung-accumulated smoking gun…
A link to the Wikipedia article on 'Pea Soup', the kind of smog prevalent in London in the 1950s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog
"The result was that visibility could be down to a metre or so in the daytime. Walking out of doors became a matter of shuffling one’s feet to feel for road curbs, etc."
And form the article, based in 1962 (though things were surely better by then overall):
"More than once the bus I rode to work had to be led by a policeman walking on the road with a red flashlight, so thick were the greasy, sulfur-dioxide-laden pea-soup fogs that in 1962 were so bad as to send people by the hundreds to hospitals some days."
LA, Beijing... if not good, probably a lot better than this era and location.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#73The worst job I've had was called 'putting up hay'. It amounted to climbing into the loft of a very dust-laden barn with 3 or 4 of my college buddies, catching hay bales as they spat out of the hay elevator, and running them over to stack in uniform 3-d arrays. After a couple of hours, our employer called us down for rejuvenation with Coke-a-cola and glazed donuts, and we'd blow what seemed like pounds of dusty mucou…
I worked at a supermarket in the late 70's as my high-school job, and we didn't compress + band the cardboard boxes -- we burned them in an incinerator out back. Every so often it needed to have the ash cleaned out, so the male employees would take turns with a shovel and the ash buckets. You'd blow grey mucous out your nose for a couple of days afterwards, because masks were for sissies.
Not-so-fun story time: The stock guys left a can of Lysol aerosol in one of the boxes, and when I tossed it in the resulting fireball burned some of my hair off. Occupational safety? What's that?
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#74I was a bit surprised to see this admission: > In the interests of full disclosure I should add that I was also persuaded to commit a series of small crimes during my sojourn at the hospital, and which I hope I can safely confess at this remove of half a century. I stole pituitary glands. About a hundred of them over the months. A research hospital had need of them—pituitaries produce a multitude of hormones, includi…
Is this what inspired the organ donation skit in Montey Python's The Meaning of Life?
The Meaning of Life was released in 1983.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
His science was lousy; he caused many people to withdraw consent for tissue donation for scientific reasons. His subjects were dead but those subjects had relatives and many of them expressed considerable distress. I don't particularly understand that upset by I recognise that they were not lying, they did sincerely feel a lot of upset.
First point is very valid and one I hadn't considered Second is the one I was arguing against. I certainly don't doubt they did sincerely feel a lot of upset. I suppose I still think it shouldn't matter. It would in that regard have been better had they just never found out.
I see where you're coming from with your argument, and certainly I have no qualms about the use of my organs after I die, but not everyone shares that belief and personally I don't think it's right to just disregard that. Sure, it might have been better if the families never found out, but it would have been best if the families wishes (no matter how irrational) were respected from the get-go.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, this made me wonder, in lieu of a lung transplant, what if they just took out a smoker's lung and gave it a good wash and then stuck it back in again? It sounds like you are saying that alot of other things go wrong with such a lung, not just a buildup of tar.
At the very least, once the carcinogens have done their job and induced a cancer washing them out would be a bit of "shutting the barn door after the cows have run away".
Cancer isn't the only smoking related illness, I wonder what it would do for someone with emphysema or the like..
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
His science was lousy; he caused many people to withdraw consent for tissue donation for scientific reasons. His subjects were dead but those subjects had relatives and many of them expressed considerable distress. I don't particularly understand that upset by I recognise that they were not lying, they did sincerely feel a lot of upset.
First point is very valid and one I hadn't considered Second is the one I was arguing against. I certainly don't doubt they did sincerely feel a lot of upset. I suppose I still think it shouldn't matter. It would in that regard have been better had they just never found out.
Regarding the second point. Suppose someone went in your house and rummaged around looking at everything. Would you feel violated? Would it be better if you didn't know?
Or took naked pictures of you without you knowing about it?
Another example: what if someone stole something from you that you didn't need?
Some things matter even if they don't cause concrete harm.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#78>"The black lungs of heavy smokers I would weigh once, then squeeze under cold running water for fifteen minutes until they became baby pink and tripelike, and then weigh again: the difference in the two figures, often a couple of pounds or more, was the weight of the tar and nicotine that quite possibly was the killer." A few pounds ? If you'd asked me, I would have guessed the weight of lung-accumulated smoking gun…
A lot of people think of lungs as if they are big bags, but in reality they are more like a sponge. So if you could imagine what the accumulation would be like in a kitchen sponge, that is kind of what it is like in the lungs.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
First point is very valid and one I hadn't considered Second is the one I was arguing against. I certainly don't doubt they did sincerely feel a lot of upset. I suppose I still think it shouldn't matter. It would in that regard have been better had they just never found out.
Regarding the second point. Suppose someone went in your house and rummaged around looking at everything. Would you feel violated? Would it be better if you didn't know? Or took naked pictures of you without you knowing about it? Another example: what if someone stole something from you that you didn't need? Some things matter even if they don't cause concrete harm.
I disagree; in the vast majority of cases I suspect your better off ignoring ephemeral harm.
That said many of the things that creep people out carry risks. But, IMO risk is a concrete harm. EX: False confictions are common so random searches cause concrete and measureable harm in aggregate.
Re: In 1962, a college student answers an ad: “Mortuary Assistant required”
#80I can't help but speculate whether Frau Fleischhacker was a concentration camp alumna.