I wrote a post not too long ago about a girl who was walking through the streets of New York and texting on her cell phone at the same time. She was unable to see where she was going and while in mid-text she fell into an open manhole that was unattended by the workers on scene. Her parents would later file charges against the state of New York stating negligence and improper warnings as there were no signs posted anywhere stating that the manhole was open. (Do you think that she would have seen the signs? She walked into a manhole so I highly doubt that she would see any signage.)
Well, wouldn’t you know it, we have had another manhole incident. This week, in Thailand, a baby elephant (because if it was a full size elephant it would have to be a pretty big manhole) fell into an open manhole. The manhole, based on reports, did not have signs near it either stating that it was going to be unattended. (Do elephants read in Thailand?)
The funny thing about this, outside of the fact that it took a bulldozer to get the animal out of the manhole, is that this animal was just walking around the streets of Thailand. Where was it’s guardian? Or did it have one? When I am in Nicaragua you see wild pigs, cows, and horses all over the place. It would not surprise me that this elephant was in fact wild.
Watch the video and you will see the humor in this. Sure, at first it is sad to think that a helpless animal is stuck in a manhole. But when you realize that the elephant walked away from the accident with no harm, you tend to see the humor. I am curious, though, if the parents of this baby elephant will be suing the city of Rayong for negligence.
