Imagine this scenario.
A business has existed in the same building, built especially for its purpose, for 80 years, a building now considered an architectural landmark. One day a visitor from San Francisco arrives and asks the owner if his building is earthquake-proof.
"Why on earth would you ask me that?" the owner replies. "No earthquake has occurred here during my lifetime, my father's lifetime, or even my grandfather's lifetime. In fact, only one earthquake has ever occurred in this area, and that was more than 100 years ago. Scientists think there might be another some day, but they have no evidence that any earthquake ever occurred in the area except for that one. We're not on a fault or the edge of a plate the way San Francisco is."
"Yes," the San Franciscan replied, "but there might be an earthquake. I can make your building safer from an earthquake if you will give me $5 million dollars."
"Five million dollars!" the businessman screamed. "You must be joking!"
"It's no joke. Listen, I have a plan. We can use OPM and I can make a buck or two while providing jobs for all my friends."
One day, a few months later, neighbors watched in disbelief as the San Franciscan removed and trashed a perfectly good slate roof that had sheltered the business for 80 years and would have done so, with a bit of care, for another 100. In its place the San Franciscan's buddies put plastic tiles, guaranteed to last at least for 20.
"Wait a minute," a bemused bystander interrrupted. "How does removing those beautiful slate tiles make the building more earthquake-proof?"
"Silly," the San Franciscan replied, "if we ever have an earthquake, one of the slate tiles might fall off the roof and hit someone on the head. The synthetic tiles aren't as heavy."
The bystander gaped for a few minutes, watching the carnage, then walked away shaking his head.
"What businessman in his right mind would make a decision like that," he wondered.
"Ha!" the San Franciscan mused as he looked at the headlines. "Mine is only the second-biggest job of its kind on the entire east coast of the United States. Those people up in Maine and New York City and Washington, DC, and New Jersey need to take some advice from a San Franciscan. I wonder why they haven't."
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5 comments:
Oh, how foolish we are. When the party's over and the West Coast expert has moved on, we will have a big hurt in the head and an even bigger hole in the wallet to remind us of just how gullible we've been.
Oh, bt the same expert says we should build a $27 million elementary school on the dune line where Atlantic storms regularly batter what ever is on front beach. Why put a school on front beach? Because we can and it's OPM.
Don't let me start on the Wando Middle College vs. a 2nd high school for East Cooper.
Of course, the historic and well built Rivers School is being trashed and replaced with plastic parts. If Bill Lewis had his way, it would have been torn down.
Now he's saying Chicora needs to use McNair for emergency swing space...Chicora is a mold factory. But didn't Bill Lewis say McNair was a "seismic" school when it was suggested a charter school might want to use it? Hey, it's just OPM.
Fifty Million Dollars for a 600 student high school addition!!?
That means Wando will have over 4,000 students in 2014. Why is this a good idea?
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