That’s Outrageous: 3 Silly Solutions to Everyday Problems
Updated: Oct. 04, 2018Why take the easy route to solving a conundrum when you can really make an impression with offbeat, creative solutions like these?
Getting Teens to Buzz Off
A library in Christchurch, New Zealand, was abuzz with controversy last year after its administration took an offbeat approach to security. When patrons complained that they felt intimidated by groups of young people loitering outside, one of the staff’s creative solutions was to install a teens-be-gone device: an outdoor speaker emitting a mosquito-like whine at a frequency so high that only ears younger than 25 can hear it. The sound drove youngsters away, but human rights groups took the library to task for discrimination. Staff have since removed the device and are considering a less pesky solution.
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Get Your Own Kid to Take Out the Garbage
This past February, Connor Cox, an 18-year-old college student in New Wilmington, Penn., got an odd lesson in responsibility. Cox opened a package from his mother expecting to see snacks but was mystified to find that the box contained candy wrappers, tissues and an empty soda can instead. He called his mom, Terri, to see if there had been a mix-up. No mistake, she said; she’d filled the box with the trash Cox had promised—and failed—to take out on his recent visit home.
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Turning to Twitter
On March 30, citizens of Plumtree in Nottinghamshire, U.K., shamed their local government by tweeting a photo of a not-so-sweet celebration: a pothole’s second birthday party. Parish councillor Vonnie Daykin had been trying to get the eyesore fixed since April 2016, at which point it was already a year old, but the government insisted the roads didn’t need any TLC. To rekindle the issue, Daykin resorted to creative solutions: he stuck two candles in a cake and photographed the dessert next to the hole. Despite assurances from the council that the road will be repaired, a second cheeky photo of the pothole was posted on the village’s Twitter account; this time, surrounded by a toy construction set.
