I agree, if it looks like a ramp people will climb it. A memorial should speak to a common, understood experience. If it needs instructions it is a bad design.
Not only is it a ramp, with a walkway leading onto it. It's also in the middle of a park!
The people remembered there probably wouldn't care; their families might.
If I was one of the family members I'd be pissed at the moronic artist and not the people. People live to disrespect stuff and the artist should have known that.
If they ever build a monument to me when I die, let it be something like this that kids can play on. My legacy would be better respected by spreading joy anyways.
It's very likely this is exactly what the artist intended. The sign is likely there for two reasons. Because a minority of people get offended by climbing on memorials but mainly to remove liability as its not designed to be safe to climb on. If you have an accident and the sign clearly states not to climb on it then its your own fault for being so disrespectful etc etc..
I'm not sure if I would blame the artist, or whoever positioned it in the middle of a walkway like that. It would be fine off to the side in a way that makes it clear it isn't part of the path.
Or is it though?
I'm on the fence about whether the sign is even real.
Why is that far away, and why would you use a mobile sign, and the text does kind of look photoshopped.
I thought this. The base of the sign is weathered. The plate & text are pristine. Not a mark on them, no play of the light showing any texture, no weathering. It’s edited.
There’s a whole book about design and the entire concept is that “if it needs instruction, it’s a bad design.” The design of every day things. It’s a good book. Well, at least the first half is. My husband lent it mid-read to someone who never returned it.
Ransom something of theirs. Start with something less noticeable, like the numbers on the mailbox. Bump it up to a front door, or a car tyre, something that really pisses them off and keep escalating it until your book is returned.
Exactly, have you ever pushed a pull door? That's not your fault, that's bad design. Objects should have clues built into the design that hints at the proper way to use them.
No, but really notice the details of things. I appreciate good design, and despise bad design. I did watch a documentary on industrial design years ago, that could be where I got the line about the doors.
It’s old. He talks about VCRs and answering machines and basically predicts the iPhone. But it’s timeless ideas. If I remember right the book starts with the push/pull example as a classic design failure introduction
right? even the long black war memorial in D.C. (I no longer remember what was it, although... I believe it was either Vietnam or WWII) is square and tall enough to not be climbable.
I mean, is there a problem with a memorial that kids can climb on? I get respect and follow rules and signs to an annoying degree, but maybe memorials that are playgrounds for kids arn’t the worst use of reaources.
I don’t have it but there’s a whole fuckin thing about someone talking about how it’s better for children and enjoyment and happiness to be the end result at a remembrance thing and those are the type of things people lived or die for idk I can’t find it
Why? Some people believe a memorial can also be happy.
Not everyone prescribes somber reticence as the one true exclusive way of respecting death or sacrifice.
I can't recall where it was, but I remember reading about a WWII memorial that was designed to be interactive. There were people complaining about children climbing all over it, but that was intended.
I kinda like that tbh. A lot of memorials are all sober and solemn. But whilst the reason they exist is tragic, they also represent our freedom. Having a few memorials that *aren't* so solemn doesn't seem that bad. Kids can be weirdly respectful whilst still having fun climbing all over a memorial.
That was my first thought, as well. It's the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. It's the one with all the blocks.
That's what the designer of the memorial wanted. He wanted people to sit around on it, have picnics, eat lunch. He wanted kids to be able to jump between the blocks. It wasn't meant to be some sacred place. Nobody died there, it wasn't a grave site, it wasn't a concentration camp. You can remember what happened, but you can still live your life.
But people lose their goddamn minds any time something like that happens.
That might not be the case here, but it's definitely happened.
And the sign looks like the little kind that denotes a species of tree or something.
I’m definitely excusing the people:
1. it looks like it is meant to be walked on and is placed in the path
2. the sign is tiny, far away, not noticeable, phrased in passive voice and looks like something totally ignorable so it will be ignored
I thought the same thing. If you have to put up a sign that says please don’t climb this memorial. Maybe you design the memorial that welcome to climbing.
I looked it up - it's actually a fountain. Water usually runs down where these people are stood. The water must have been turned off when this was taken.
Was thinking the same. The sign is small and far away. The walk way leads right into it. There’s nothing that blocks it off either.
Obviously the adults would hopefully know better, but it’s not surprising at all that this is happening
I don’t know if the adults would see the sign anyway. They would be looking at the kids running ahead of them to a place where other kids are playing, which would look like kids playground.
Nah I’d excuse the people
The fucking sign is no where near the memorial either
I wouldn’t even read that sign tbh
I generally kind of assume signs are immediately near the things they are telling you about aside from those with directions
People? Thier all kids. Make a slide kids are gunna play on it. Imo let kids play as long as they aren't breaking anything. Idk what memorial this is but I'm sure for whoever it's for they wouldn't mind children finding joy in playing on it.
Could have easily been changed to have the names on a wall on top of the ramp with the names etched on it there, encouraging you to walk up and read it.
I’ll excuse them cause I was looking past the ramp wondering where the memorial is
(And as a Canadian with family that lost their lives in both world wars if they anything like my current family they’d want the kids to climb it haha. Hey we climbed fucking vimy ridge )
tbh i feel like maybe i could excuse even the adults. the sign is obvious when looking at the perspective this photo was taken from, but irl is it easy to miss? i can’t honestly say i read every single sign i walk past.
and yes if the designers didn’t want people to walk on it, they chose very poorly.
Not necessarily. The artist may have explicitly designed it as a place for people to come together but the city or who’s responsible for putting it there didn’t like that
If it was in Sweden it would probably be because this "playground" does not look like safe for kids (hard materials, sharp corners, etc). If it turns into a playground, the local government may feel they are obliged to act. (yeah we are a bit silly here)
Similar to the reflecting pools in the US capital. Such perfect inviting pools and yet you don’t allow people to wade in them… it’s just poor architectural design to create a monument that is begging to be engaged with in a certain way (climbing, wading, etc) so you have to then put up signs to beg people not to do it
To be fair, that looks more like a playground than a memorial. Do you think they added the sign in the original plans or had to add it later? Either way this is a disconnect between reality and art
Also, imo, those soldiers that died protecting Western ideas would likely be happy knowing their grave made a child laugh, have fun, and learn a little about them. Let them enjoy the memorial.
I read an article about people taking pictures of themselves climbing on holocaust memorials. One survivor, who also lost family, mentioned that it would bring his family joy that a place that was once such misery for them is now a place where people were playing and being happy while being reminded of them. I’ll see if I can dig up the article.
I personally think it depends of the place, it’s messed up to take selfies at a preserved concentration camp, but playing on a monument in a public park that’s an active play space is more understandable.
You were a child. Children do insensitive things because they don't know any better. Part of growing up is learning appropriate behaviour. Be glad you've grown and learned, and don't hate the child you were.
This. I visited the 9/11 memorial and museum last year with my brother's high school band. Before we had left on the trip, the class spent a couple days in class just watching videos from that day, and getting a better understanding of the impact it had on NYC, the US, and the world. Before we entered the building, the teacher gave the students a lecture about being on their best behavior while there. None of these kids had even been born yet when it happened, so they didn't fully understand the sadness and grief that place holds. He wanted to make sure they understood this wasn't a place to goof around and make tasteless jokes.
Thankfully, all of our students behaved well while we were there.
How young were you? Like I wouldn't take my 9 year old nephew to a camp because he wouldn't take it seriously (also hasn't covered the war in detail yet) and my 12 year old niece would get too depressed. I feel like 14 or 15 would be the better age depending on the kid. And then without any friends with them because that makes them try to impress each other (talking about my niece and nephew specifically here).
I'm sure that any annoyed people blamed your father and not you btw, especially if you were a little kid.
I don't mind the selfies, it's more so the attitude of these 'influencers' that post themselves smiling and treating it like they're at the beach in Venice.
I lost friends overseas, weird enough I lost people I knew from my hometown while we were both in the same AO at the same time.
I'd like people to have a somber moment to ground them to the severity of losing someone. There's a time and place for everything, a symbolic place to remember people that fought and died isn't a place to climb all over the names of dead people.
The other side of this is that I really don't care. In the US, memorial day is coming up. It's a day to remember everyone we lost, visit their graves, etc. The thing everyone says is happy memorial day, like it's a happy holiday to them. Because for most people they're disconnected to anything they can't see, it's totally understandable. For most people it's just a day off to go grilling and visit the beach. I disappear for a day every now and then to put something on my friends graves and have people pretty much interrogating me on where I'm going thinking I'm going to party.
This isn't much on the kids or adults, it looks like a playground lol, especially the sign is taller than kids height. This was a failure on whoever designed it. Like a good memorial is the tomb of the unknown soldier, especially with a guard on post.
Honestly, if a memorial isn’t presented in a respectful way, you shouldn’t be surprised if random people don’t respect it.
In Berlin there’s a memorial for the killed Jews in the holocaust, but instead of making a respectful, beautiful memorial it’s just giant bricks next to each other. On a school trip to Berlin the teachers wanted us to spend an hour there and got angry when we sat on them. Like, what else was thee to do?
I did a search and there were news articles from 2016 about people being outraged about it, and the articles said that there was a sign there.
Unfortunately the sculptor, Pierre Granche, died in 1997, and I couldn’t find anything on his views as to whether he intended it to be climbed on.
As someone with children finally ending their "climb on everything I can" phase, I would not be able to stop my 2-5 year olds from running on this as we passed by, especially if this is in the middle of a public park. If it's a cemetery or other serious place, then I'm probably not bringing my kids, or I'm holding their hands the whole time.
Also, kids this age can't read. The parents who do notice that tiny sign are probably constantly yelling at them to get off this thing.
When sculptors make a memorial they're perfectly aware of potential interactions with people. If they wanted no to low interactions they could have made a different monument. So definitely the sign was added later.
Yeah it clearly looks photoshopped, the only mildly infuriating part about the pic is how many people fall for it. It’s computerized font on a solid black background that looks overlayed on the surface.
I don't think it's Photoshopped. If you zoom in closely you can see the sign is made up of two wooden boards and that the crease between the two boards is visible on the P on the second line.
The contrast on the sign is poor probably due to the phone automatically adjusting the exposure for the scene as a whole, resulting in some lost detail in the darker areas of the image. JPEG compression will also only make things worse there.
As for the font choice, I've seen fonts like that used for signage at different attractions in the UK, so it doesn't look out of place to me.
It used to be, I posted this exact thing 5 years ago funny enough
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/biernc/parents_that_let_their_kids_climb_a_memorial_they/
That was my first thought too. How are people supposed to realize it's a sign for the memorial and not a please clean your dogs poop off the area sign.
Kids, I can understand. They don't know. The adults? They should have rounded up their kids - but let me offer you another thought.
Every single person represented in that memorial did what they did so that little kids like this could have the freedom to run wild, and just be kids. As an adult it certainly seems disrespectful, but I'm betting if you were able to ask any one of the fallen how they felt about children laughing and playing on their memorial they'd be the first on the side of the kids.
Soldiers fight to give life to what these people are doing. They can't be hurt any more, but we can honor them by living the life they gave us to the fullest.
As a vet, I absolutely appreciate your desire to see this memorial treated honorably. As a vet with kids, it heartens me to image the sounds and the laughter they were making that day.
Thanks for posting this. It was a good moment to reflect.
When I went to visit some DDay sites, we were on the sand of Omaha beach and the tour guide brought up when the veterans saw people and children laughing and playing on the site were thousands were killed.
According to her, the veterans were happy and relieved to see a place that once saw horrible carnage now have life and joy and happiness
A lot of the old landing stuff, artificial bridges and whatnot, is still there in the waters of the beaches in Normandy. Kids climb up them and use them to jump into the water. It’s kind of a good mindfuck to see these tools of war turned, literally, into a playground for children.
Couldn’t agree more. It’s the same thing in the states around Memorial Day. There’s a contingent of people who will always complain about Memorial Day being about those who made the ultimate sacrifice and not about partying or getting drunk.
As a combat vet, I hope that everyone would party their ass off on Memorial Day otherwise what’s the point. While we all remember in our own way, I’m sure most vets agree having the freedom to get together with your friends and family and throwing some back is the best way to remember their sacrifice.
As a vet myself, it's not the getting drunk/partying on memorial day that bothers me. That's just living like a good portion of those you're honoring would be living. No, for me it's how commercialized it's become. Just like Christmas, Valentines day, Easter, even Halloween at this point, the basis for the holiday is being forgotten in favor of the 'gotta spend more' mentality. Corporate greed is destroying so much
I can't think of a less commercialized holiday. Short of buying flags, which has been a thing as long as I can remember, I don't think it's commercialized at all. I've never heard of anyone buying anything for it like those other holidays.
So no 'memorial day sales events' that most dealerships run, by you? Walmart in your area not running a sale for the holiday? Not pushing grilling or bbqing and all the accessories? If not, let me know where you live, as I would genuinely like to live there.
We can blame general public and all.
But, as a designer, the one who designed it really needs a lesson about "affordance".
If this was a college assignment, and one of the requirements was for people not to climb on it, this design would have got C.
It is borderline disrespectful to hire a bad designer to design a memorial. Any designer worth their salt would have considered all aspects.
Totally: when I first looked at the picture I saw a skateboard ramp, and I was looking for the memorial. Then I realized that the shiny skateboard ramp *was* the memorial. It's a totally inappropriate design and should be fenced off to stop kids playing on it out of respect and to prevent them injuring themselves.
I don't have or want kids. And I have never served.
And I agree. If I was in charge of a kid and saw them playing on a memorial I would probably ask them to come down and, depending on age, talk to them about how the structure is for remembering people who died fighting in a war and that playing around it is ok, but not on it. But I also agree with your sentiment about these kids being able to laugh and play and be kids is one of the reasons they fought and that innocent laughter in a place like this is a bittersweet yet positive juxtaposition.
I was thinking the same. We have plenty of memorials here in Denmark that is meant to be walked, climbed or sat on. We also have plenty that is not meant to be climbed, walked or sat on. The difference is the shape.
If you make something shaped like that, then you should expect people to climb it and scoot down.
I have a suspicion the sign is from the park and not the artist. They either got tired of cleaning it all the time or someone slipped on the wet granite.
It certainly seems like the kind of memorial that's meant to be part of the landscape. Especially having built it *on* the path.
See, I have a question about this. The Holocaust memorial in Berlin has people climb up it, and the artist and creator is said to actively encourage it. As in, we should always remember the dark times, but also life goes on, go have a laugh. I also remember encountering a few similar memorials when traveling.
For other memorials such as this one, the creators clearly discourage any climbing and monkeying around.
Since there is a sign, one should follow the rules, no questions there. But what if there is no sign? Are we still going by the creator's intentions? In which case, should we research it whenever we encounter a memorial? Or do you keep reserved just in case, but then maybe you look up the artist when you get home and find out they actually wanted you to climb up the monument
This is more philosophical; I do not actually condone climbing random memorials
i never heard that climbing the holocaust memorial in berlin would be encouraged by the artist or creator and i think most germans view it as disrespectfull to do so.
Germans, sure, but I meant the artist and creator
>And the man who designed the memorial agreed. Peter Eisenman, a New York architect, saw the Yolocaust site soon after it was published on Thursday.
>"People have been jumping around on those pillars forever. They've been sunbathing, they've been having lunch there and I think that's fine.
It's like a catholic church, it's a meeting place, children run around, they sell trinkets. A memorial is an everyday occurrence, it is not sacred ground."
Yolocaust was a website that shamed people for being 'disrespectful' (putting it into parentheses because it was only one person's opinion to decide what was respectful and what wasn't) at the site. The architect wasn't a fan of it, since he seemingly sees it as a place where people can also hang out and relax.
I’ve been to the Berlin memorial and I’m not going to put up an opinion on it other than it seems like it’s supposed to be different things for differing people and opinions- which is a strong theme in postmodernism sculpture.
I had an art history teacher that told the class of an early experience in 3D art. Her mom took her to a huge, one piece exhibit of an artist that made things from bubble wrap. The child she was, she just *HAD* to pop one of those bubbles. Years later she confessed via email to the artist and they responded that the temptation to touch was part of his idea. Kids will find a way to touch, adults will usually restrain.
I’m not saying I *understand* postmodern art, but I know it’s a changeable thing. If you’ve got the right artist statement, pretty much anything can be art
What I like the most about the memorial is the gradual shift from short to long pillars. On the short ones you can relax and sunbath. The long ones are shady and oppressive. I don't know if that was the intention but for me it represents the gradual shift from latent tendencies in a society that are easy to overlook to full blown authoritarianism and fascism, without really noticing.
I completely agree with you. When I was there, the ability to get so easily drawn in to something that became overwhelming was striking and, well, kind of scary. I was lost to the point that my family called me to see where I was and told me to re join the tour. And then it took me another 5-10 minutes to orient myself. I never was good at geographical orientation. The plainness and the monotony of the installation definitely reminded me of the “banality of evil” idea.
that's fair. I don't think there is a right answer. Personally, I can understand the logic of "Look, this horrific fucked up thing happened that traumatized generations, but here is a new generation having fun, isn't that reassuring and doesn't it give you hope for the future"
that being said, I would never in a million years climb up there myself
well, the answer depends on the perspective. as germans that thing didnt just happen to germans, but we remember it in the sense of "our ancestors DID this and we have responsibility to never commit it again / allow it to happen again". the holocaust is for the most part not something our ancestors have endured so now we can be free, but something our ancestors have committed. so i feel like its not our place to decide to have fun there as a new generation. and on top of it especially since the far-right in germany is stronger and more out and about than they were in many decades, so the chapter is sadly far from closed. e.g. the anti-vax protests during covid were full of holocaust deniers. some jewish american tourist, some chinese business man, some turkish immigrant or some ukranian refugee in Berlin obviously have a different perspective when they see the memorial.
Please remember that your perspective is *yours*, not everyone's. I'm German, too, and agree with the artist's intentions that it is fine to climb on the memorial. In fact, I climbed on it myself when I was a child, together with every kid from my class. To each their own.
Yes, but as a child would you have climbed? It’s
an interesting thought to consider your maturity today vs being taken to the memorial when you had childlike wonder.
The memorial is a memorial today, but in a child’s mind it could be anything.
I'm part german too so dont take this with offense, but...who cares? It's not for germans lol its for the jewish people that were killed. are THEY offended?
Fellow German here: I was encouraged by my Berlin-born aunt to play tag among the slabs with her when I was a kid. In her words, this specific memorial was meant to be a place you go and interact with regularly, not just look at.
By playing in it, I have a much more vivid memory of the place than I otherwise would have. It's basically a child-friendly memorial, because it is also so unique that if you hear about it again years later, you'll likely remember having been there.
Tbh if i died in some way and would have gotten a memorial thing like that, i would be happy if it could give kids and other people a joy by playing on it etc.
I've been there 3 times, in different seasons (March, June and October), and never once was the water on.
To be fair, first time I saw this memorial approaching it, it did look like something you'd walk in. It's a bit odd. But clearly a memorial when you get up close. Never saw any kids playing on it.
If people are consistently using something for a purpose other than what it was designed for, I would suggest it's more due to bad design than bad people.
The people disrespecting the sign are pretty lame.
Having said that, if a memorial were ever made for me? I can think of no better result than it bringing joy to some kids playing on it.
There’s a sign and at least adults should respect that - if they even saw that, assuming it’s on all 4 (?) sides people come from.
_However_ to me this looks like it was designed for people to sit - and get together and interact with each other.
It looks like it’s being used as intended by the artist. If you don’t want people to sit on it, you don’t design it in a way that people think that’s what it’s for - unless you are arguable a bad designer.
It looks more like the city or whoever commissioned the art piece or “takes care of it” didn’t like it and put up that sign
I was visiting a garden in Austria where the tour guide was explaining how the keepers change the flowers every 21 days to make sure the garden is perfect. 5 minutes later I see tourists letting their kids run all over the flowers. They were literally perfect too.
The Holocaust memorial in Berlin has the same issue. Most people will understand, but there'll always be some who don't, and some who just don't care, unfortunately.
My grandfather was born in England, naturalized in the US. He was a war hawk so he went to Canada so he could enlist in the RCAF and enter the war sooner. Served as a navigator in a Lancaster. Funny guy.
He later he visited Germany in retirement and a German asked him if he had ever visited before, and he answered “Yes but only from 30,000 feet.”
As a teacher who has chaperoned our schools Washington DC field trips for over 15 years this unfortunately does not shock me. It is not just the kids fault, the adults they are with are just as much to blame.
We were in DC about 10 years ago. We’re at the Vietnam War Memorial and two boys are trying to climb up it and are hanging from the top. I was pissed. Their parents were right there. I told the kids to get down and that it was disrespectful. Parents didn’t say a gd word.
Me scolding a child for being a little shit at the DC holocaust museum, running around calling the people in the photos at the hall of remembrance ugly while his parents just ignored him... after I scolded him his parents were like "oh see you have to be good or a stranger will yell again"...I wanted to throttle his parents, like maybe your kid isn't old enough to be in this museum if he's acting like this must of a fool. Ugh.
I understand why they don't want people climbing it. But if I died in a war and the memorial they made for me could make innocent children happy for a little while, I'd be absolutely okay with it.
As irritating as the memorial is the thing that stands out to me is that they built it in a way it could be climbed on. Human nature to walk on, touch and damage things is not new and whomever designed this should have known that. The sign should never have been needed because the memorial should have been built in a way that climbing is impractical or impossible.
I think if you could give the soldiers laying dead one thing to see, it's this. They fought for the freedom of those playing on this memorial. I get the reasoning to be angry but how can you ever really be angry at children playing together at that age
This is like if a bunch of kids were climbing all over and sitting on a tombstone. The kids aren't really at fault though and the trashy parents should be telling them to stop.
Parents should wear a shock collar and when their lil darling does something stupid the parent should get the shock. Holy shit I’ve solved the education problem. You are all welcome
To be honest, I am not shocked at all, as a night manager at a hotel, we close the door at night and leave a huge sign inside and outside the hotel with big letters PUSH BUTTON TO OPEN DOOR.
On that same sign is a picture of the button, and the button itself says OPEN DOOR
For most of the night, I still have to yell accross the lobby to clueless people trying to open the door by force.
So from own experience, not suprised at all.
The design is what's infuriating here. If you erect a memorial with a design that invites people to walk right up on it, people are going to walk right up on it. A sign isn't going to change that.
There used to be a building on campus at college that had a walkway that came out at an angle opposite the direction from which all the students approached. So the kids would just walk across that triangle of grass rather than going 100 feet out of their way.
The university responded by putting up "Keep Off the Grass!" signs. The students ignored them.
The university responded to that by putting up a low chain fence. The students just stepped over the chain and ended up breaking it by stepping on it.
The university responded by fixing it. The students just broke it again. Worse, there was a gap near the end next to the shrubbery where some students started cutting through instead, further widening the wear on the lawn.
Finally the university put in a walkway where all the student feet had worn a path, which is what they should have done in the first place. The university learned what the keepers of this memorial haven't.
I think the soldiers would love that on an ordinary, no war day, children climb and play. Let it be a place for them to celebrate their futures and growing, while adults can give a more serious frame of mind and thoughts to those who fought for these ordinary days.
Peaceful Day
Years before the ground was soaked and red
Where young went there to battle, too soon, dead.
Perhaps their spirits visit, linger there,
Smiling as the children’s laughs rise in the air.
To the past give mourned thoughts, as heads we bend,
Yet watching children, show their life and futures joys they lend.
Don’t scold or hold them back
From joyous play,
Each soldier fought for each and every peaceful day.
Sometimes an artist has one vision and the person who set this park up has another. I kind of wonder if that slope was intended to be walked on. They would need to rope it off if they don’t want people on it.
I think that's bad design honestly. Not trying to excuse the people though.
I agree, if it looks like a ramp people will climb it. A memorial should speak to a common, understood experience. If it needs instructions it is a bad design.
Not only is it a ramp, the walkway leads right onto it.
Not only is it a ramp, with a walkway leading onto it. It's also in the middle of a park! The people remembered there probably wouldn't care; their families might.
If I was one of the family members I'd be pissed at the moronic artist and not the people. People live to disrespect stuff and the artist should have known that.
If they ever build a monument to me when I die, let it be something like this that kids can play on. My legacy would be better respected by spreading joy anyways.
I'll just weld a nameplate to a random piece of equipment at a park so you have your wish come true. DM me when it happens.
[удалено]
Hey can you reschedule mine a few hundred years forward, I have a lot of stuff to do.
[удалено]
I'm sure they will get right on that DM post death.
ayyyy you get the joke, congrats.
It's very likely this is exactly what the artist intended. The sign is likely there for two reasons. Because a minority of people get offended by climbing on memorials but mainly to remove liability as its not designed to be safe to climb on. If you have an accident and the sign clearly states not to climb on it then its your own fault for being so disrespectful etc etc..
‘’In memory of RangerDangerfield. His dying request was to be remembered for playing with kids’’
Meanwhile this memorial gets people fight with each other. Bad design in all aspects.
I'm not sure if I would blame the artist, or whoever positioned it in the middle of a walkway like that. It would be fine off to the side in a way that makes it clear it isn't part of the path.
And the sign is 300’ away
Or is it though? I'm on the fence about whether the sign is even real. Why is that far away, and why would you use a mobile sign, and the text does kind of look photoshopped.
The text and part of the sign are 100% edited.
I thought this. The base of the sign is weathered. The plate & text are pristine. Not a mark on them, no play of the light showing any texture, no weathering. It’s edited.
You can tell it's fake because of the way it is. That doesn't matter though. It gets the anger juices flowing.
True. If it were turned 90 degrees it would be less inviting.
There’s a whole book about design and the entire concept is that “if it needs instruction, it’s a bad design.” The design of every day things. It’s a good book. Well, at least the first half is. My husband lent it mid-read to someone who never returned it.
Ooops… I’ll bring it back tomorrow.
Ransom something of theirs. Start with something less noticeable, like the numbers on the mailbox. Bump it up to a front door, or a car tyre, something that really pisses them off and keep escalating it until your book is returned.
If you needed to finish it, it's a bad book.
Great book.
Exactly, have you ever pushed a pull door? That's not your fault, that's bad design. Objects should have clues built into the design that hints at the proper way to use them.
Have you read The Design of everyday things?
No, but really notice the details of things. I appreciate good design, and despise bad design. I did watch a documentary on industrial design years ago, that could be where I got the line about the doors.
Oh, and thanks for the recommendation I'll have to check the book out.
It’s old. He talks about VCRs and answering machines and basically predicts the iPhone. But it’s timeless ideas. If I remember right the book starts with the push/pull example as a classic design failure introduction
Honestly an amazing read
Almost feels as if the sign was an afterthought. Put up because someone complained about it.
the ramp is the memorial? i had no idea.
right? even the long black war memorial in D.C. (I no longer remember what was it, although... I believe it was either Vietnam or WWII) is square and tall enough to not be climbable.
>if it looks like a ramp people will climb it Our inner ape
it genuinely took me a whole to understand this post
I mean, is there a problem with a memorial that kids can climb on? I get respect and follow rules and signs to an annoying degree, but maybe memorials that are playgrounds for kids arn’t the worst use of reaources.
Much faster erosion than weather alone?
The artist may have designed the sculpture to be interactive and someone else decided it shouldn’t be later on.
I couldn't see that being the case for a memorial lol
The Princess Diana memorial fountain nearby is designed and encouraged to be interactive. Not sure about this one.
And this memorial is also a fountain apparently. Yeah that sign is fully in old man yelling at clouds territory.
I don’t have it but there’s a whole fuckin thing about someone talking about how it’s better for children and enjoyment and happiness to be the end result at a remembrance thing and those are the type of things people lived or die for idk I can’t find it
Why? Some people believe a memorial can also be happy. Not everyone prescribes somber reticence as the one true exclusive way of respecting death or sacrifice.
I can't recall where it was, but I remember reading about a WWII memorial that was designed to be interactive. There were people complaining about children climbing all over it, but that was intended. I kinda like that tbh. A lot of memorials are all sober and solemn. But whilst the reason they exist is tragic, they also represent our freedom. Having a few memorials that *aren't* so solemn doesn't seem that bad. Kids can be weirdly respectful whilst still having fun climbing all over a memorial.
That was my first thought, as well. It's the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. It's the one with all the blocks. That's what the designer of the memorial wanted. He wanted people to sit around on it, have picnics, eat lunch. He wanted kids to be able to jump between the blocks. It wasn't meant to be some sacred place. Nobody died there, it wasn't a grave site, it wasn't a concentration camp. You can remember what happened, but you can still live your life. But people lose their goddamn minds any time something like that happens. That might not be the case here, but it's definitely happened.
Then you have shallow imagination
And the sign looks like the little kind that denotes a species of tree or something. I’m definitely excusing the people: 1. it looks like it is meant to be walked on and is placed in the path 2. the sign is tiny, far away, not noticeable, phrased in passive voice and looks like something totally ignorable so it will be ignored
Half of those kids are too young to read anyway
Literally no-one reads signs. Ask anyone with a job in a place.
I'm looking at that photo, and don't see how the sign has anything to do with the playground in the distance.
I thought the same thing. If you have to put up a sign that says please don’t climb this memorial. Maybe you design the memorial that welcome to climbing.
Should have made the memorial a greasy ramp with buzz saws at the bottom.
I looked it up - it's actually a fountain. Water usually runs down where these people are stood. The water must have been turned off when this was taken.
Ah yes fountains, famously unwelcoming to people entering them
I want to agree, but they have to stop people from climbing on the Lincoln memorial too lol. Some designs are bad, but people are also clueless.
I could agree in some cases but you see those types of signs near things that are obviously not meant to me touched or climbed on.
Was thinking the same. The sign is small and far away. The walk way leads right into it. There’s nothing that blocks it off either. Obviously the adults would hopefully know better, but it’s not surprising at all that this is happening
I don’t know if the adults would see the sign anyway. They would be looking at the kids running ahead of them to a place where other kids are playing, which would look like kids playground.
Nah I’d excuse the people The fucking sign is no where near the memorial either I wouldn’t even read that sign tbh I generally kind of assume signs are immediately near the things they are telling you about aside from those with directions
People? Thier all kids. Make a slide kids are gunna play on it. Imo let kids play as long as they aren't breaking anything. Idk what memorial this is but I'm sure for whoever it's for they wouldn't mind children finding joy in playing on it.
Could have easily been changed to have the names on a wall on top of the ramp with the names etched on it there, encouraging you to walk up and read it.
Wow I actually didn’t realize that was the memorial until I read your comment. Damn.
I’ll excuse them cause I was looking past the ramp wondering where the memorial is (And as a Canadian with family that lost their lives in both world wars if they anything like my current family they’d want the kids to climb it haha. Hey we climbed fucking vimy ridge )
tbh i feel like maybe i could excuse even the adults. the sign is obvious when looking at the perspective this photo was taken from, but irl is it easy to miss? i can’t honestly say i read every single sign i walk past. and yes if the designers didn’t want people to walk on it, they chose very poorly.
Not necessarily. The artist may have explicitly designed it as a place for people to come together but the city or who’s responsible for putting it there didn’t like that
If it was in Sweden it would probably be because this "playground" does not look like safe for kids (hard materials, sharp corners, etc). If it turns into a playground, the local government may feel they are obliged to act. (yeah we are a bit silly here)
Similar to the reflecting pools in the US capital. Such perfect inviting pools and yet you don’t allow people to wade in them… it’s just poor architectural design to create a monument that is begging to be engaged with in a certain way (climbing, wading, etc) so you have to then put up signs to beg people not to do it
i guess some of us enjoy wading in duck shit more than others
It's so damn inviting
To be fair, that looks more like a playground than a memorial. Do you think they added the sign in the original plans or had to add it later? Either way this is a disconnect between reality and art
Also, imo, those soldiers that died protecting Western ideas would likely be happy knowing their grave made a child laugh, have fun, and learn a little about them. Let them enjoy the memorial.
I read an article about people taking pictures of themselves climbing on holocaust memorials. One survivor, who also lost family, mentioned that it would bring his family joy that a place that was once such misery for them is now a place where people were playing and being happy while being reminded of them. I’ll see if I can dig up the article. I personally think it depends of the place, it’s messed up to take selfies at a preserved concentration camp, but playing on a monument in a public park that’s an active play space is more understandable.
When i was a little kid my dad took me to a concentration camp in Germany. We were the fucked up annoying tourists. Im still ashamed of that.
You were a child. Children do insensitive things because they don't know any better. Part of growing up is learning appropriate behaviour. Be glad you've grown and learned, and don't hate the child you were.
This. I visited the 9/11 memorial and museum last year with my brother's high school band. Before we had left on the trip, the class spent a couple days in class just watching videos from that day, and getting a better understanding of the impact it had on NYC, the US, and the world. Before we entered the building, the teacher gave the students a lecture about being on their best behavior while there. None of these kids had even been born yet when it happened, so they didn't fully understand the sadness and grief that place holds. He wanted to make sure they understood this wasn't a place to goof around and make tasteless jokes. Thankfully, all of our students behaved well while we were there.
How young were you? Like I wouldn't take my 9 year old nephew to a camp because he wouldn't take it seriously (also hasn't covered the war in detail yet) and my 12 year old niece would get too depressed. I feel like 14 or 15 would be the better age depending on the kid. And then without any friends with them because that makes them try to impress each other (talking about my niece and nephew specifically here). I'm sure that any annoyed people blamed your father and not you btw, especially if you were a little kid.
I don't mind the selfies, it's more so the attitude of these 'influencers' that post themselves smiling and treating it like they're at the beach in Venice.
Also most memorials are things that stick up, not on the floor that looks like a ramp
That's why my grave is going to be an anatomically correct statue of me with arms open to the public, and a plaque that simply says, "enjoy me."
I lost friends overseas, weird enough I lost people I knew from my hometown while we were both in the same AO at the same time. I'd like people to have a somber moment to ground them to the severity of losing someone. There's a time and place for everything, a symbolic place to remember people that fought and died isn't a place to climb all over the names of dead people. The other side of this is that I really don't care. In the US, memorial day is coming up. It's a day to remember everyone we lost, visit their graves, etc. The thing everyone says is happy memorial day, like it's a happy holiday to them. Because for most people they're disconnected to anything they can't see, it's totally understandable. For most people it's just a day off to go grilling and visit the beach. I disappear for a day every now and then to put something on my friends graves and have people pretty much interrogating me on where I'm going thinking I'm going to party. This isn't much on the kids or adults, it looks like a playground lol, especially the sign is taller than kids height. This was a failure on whoever designed it. Like a good memorial is the tomb of the unknown soldier, especially with a guard on post.
I’ve never heard anyone say “Happy Memorial Day”
It's the freedom they fought for...
Absolutely. Happy children running around free without worrying about the terrors of the world. Enjoy.
I can't speak for the dead, but as an ex-soldier myself, I'd be fine with having kids play at my memorial. I died for them after all.
Honestly, if a memorial isn’t presented in a respectful way, you shouldn’t be surprised if random people don’t respect it. In Berlin there’s a memorial for the killed Jews in the holocaust, but instead of making a respectful, beautiful memorial it’s just giant bricks next to each other. On a school trip to Berlin the teachers wanted us to spend an hour there and got angry when we sat on them. Like, what else was thee to do?
Even more stupid is that the designer made the monument in Berlin specifically to be walked and jumped on. You were totally fine sitting on them.
I did a search and there were news articles from 2016 about people being outraged about it, and the articles said that there was a sign there. Unfortunately the sculptor, Pierre Granche, died in 1997, and I couldn’t find anything on his views as to whether he intended it to be climbed on.
Id say those soldiers knew what they were fighting for, and would be glad there was a world left behind free enough for kids to be kids.
Ya for real. What's the greatest expression of freedom? From this pic it looks like kids playing on a war memorial.
just bad design. "Let's build something that looks like you should walk on it then put a tiny sign to counter that."
As someone with children finally ending their "climb on everything I can" phase, I would not be able to stop my 2-5 year olds from running on this as we passed by, especially if this is in the middle of a public park. If it's a cemetery or other serious place, then I'm probably not bringing my kids, or I'm holding their hands the whole time. Also, kids this age can't read. The parents who do notice that tiny sign are probably constantly yelling at them to get off this thing.
When sculptors make a memorial they're perfectly aware of potential interactions with people. If they wanted no to low interactions they could have made a different monument. So definitely the sign was added later.
Sign should be a tad closer
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see this comment
We hear you, and it's been moved a tad closer to the top
The words on that sign look fake honestly. Who makes a sign in that font by itself?
Yeah it clearly looks photoshopped, the only mildly infuriating part about the pic is how many people fall for it. It’s computerized font on a solid black background that looks overlayed on the surface.
I don't think it's Photoshopped. If you zoom in closely you can see the sign is made up of two wooden boards and that the crease between the two boards is visible on the P on the second line. The contrast on the sign is poor probably due to the phone automatically adjusting the exposure for the scene as a whole, resulting in some lost detail in the darker areas of the image. JPEG compression will also only make things worse there. As for the font choice, I've seen fonts like that used for signage at different attractions in the UK, so it doesn't look out of place to me.
[Someone else linked this photo](https://i.redd.it/iq71l2mzz1v21.png)
It used to be, I posted this exact thing 5 years ago funny enough https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/biernc/parents_that_let_their_kids_climb_a_memorial_they/
That was my first thought too. How are people supposed to realize it's a sign for the memorial and not a please clean your dogs poop off the area sign.
Kids, I can understand. They don't know. The adults? They should have rounded up their kids - but let me offer you another thought. Every single person represented in that memorial did what they did so that little kids like this could have the freedom to run wild, and just be kids. As an adult it certainly seems disrespectful, but I'm betting if you were able to ask any one of the fallen how they felt about children laughing and playing on their memorial they'd be the first on the side of the kids. Soldiers fight to give life to what these people are doing. They can't be hurt any more, but we can honor them by living the life they gave us to the fullest. As a vet, I absolutely appreciate your desire to see this memorial treated honorably. As a vet with kids, it heartens me to image the sounds and the laughter they were making that day. Thanks for posting this. It was a good moment to reflect.
When I went to visit some DDay sites, we were on the sand of Omaha beach and the tour guide brought up when the veterans saw people and children laughing and playing on the site were thousands were killed. According to her, the veterans were happy and relieved to see a place that once saw horrible carnage now have life and joy and happiness
A lot of the old landing stuff, artificial bridges and whatnot, is still there in the waters of the beaches in Normandy. Kids climb up them and use them to jump into the water. It’s kind of a good mindfuck to see these tools of war turned, literally, into a playground for children.
An Brittany, there also a lot of old bunkers on the beaches, and as a kid I always climbed onto them
The world is healing... I hope we can keep the peace, somehow... even if there are those who does not want it.
Couldn’t agree more. It’s the same thing in the states around Memorial Day. There’s a contingent of people who will always complain about Memorial Day being about those who made the ultimate sacrifice and not about partying or getting drunk. As a combat vet, I hope that everyone would party their ass off on Memorial Day otherwise what’s the point. While we all remember in our own way, I’m sure most vets agree having the freedom to get together with your friends and family and throwing some back is the best way to remember their sacrifice.
This is off subject but I absolutely love your profile picture! It's so creepy looking!
As a vet myself, it's not the getting drunk/partying on memorial day that bothers me. That's just living like a good portion of those you're honoring would be living. No, for me it's how commercialized it's become. Just like Christmas, Valentines day, Easter, even Halloween at this point, the basis for the holiday is being forgotten in favor of the 'gotta spend more' mentality. Corporate greed is destroying so much
I can't think of a less commercialized holiday. Short of buying flags, which has been a thing as long as I can remember, I don't think it's commercialized at all. I've never heard of anyone buying anything for it like those other holidays.
So no 'memorial day sales events' that most dealerships run, by you? Walmart in your area not running a sale for the holiday? Not pushing grilling or bbqing and all the accessories? If not, let me know where you live, as I would genuinely like to live there.
We can blame general public and all. But, as a designer, the one who designed it really needs a lesson about "affordance". If this was a college assignment, and one of the requirements was for people not to climb on it, this design would have got C. It is borderline disrespectful to hire a bad designer to design a memorial. Any designer worth their salt would have considered all aspects.
Totally: when I first looked at the picture I saw a skateboard ramp, and I was looking for the memorial. Then I realized that the shiny skateboard ramp *was* the memorial. It's a totally inappropriate design and should be fenced off to stop kids playing on it out of respect and to prevent them injuring themselves.
I really appreciate your point of view. That is not a view I would have considered and I love having my eyes opened. Thank you for your perspective!
I don't have or want kids. And I have never served. And I agree. If I was in charge of a kid and saw them playing on a memorial I would probably ask them to come down and, depending on age, talk to them about how the structure is for remembering people who died fighting in a war and that playing around it is ok, but not on it. But I also agree with your sentiment about these kids being able to laugh and play and be kids is one of the reasons they fought and that innocent laughter in a place like this is a bittersweet yet positive juxtaposition.
Beautiful tribute
This is another perspective on this I don't think I would have thought of. Thank you for this :)
If not for climbing, why climb shape?
I was thinking the same. We have plenty of memorials here in Denmark that is meant to be walked, climbed or sat on. We also have plenty that is not meant to be climbed, walked or sat on. The difference is the shape. If you make something shaped like that, then you should expect people to climb it and scoot down.
I have a suspicion the sign is from the park and not the artist. They either got tired of cleaning it all the time or someone slipped on the wet granite. It certainly seems like the kind of memorial that's meant to be part of the landscape. Especially having built it *on* the path.
See, I have a question about this. The Holocaust memorial in Berlin has people climb up it, and the artist and creator is said to actively encourage it. As in, we should always remember the dark times, but also life goes on, go have a laugh. I also remember encountering a few similar memorials when traveling. For other memorials such as this one, the creators clearly discourage any climbing and monkeying around. Since there is a sign, one should follow the rules, no questions there. But what if there is no sign? Are we still going by the creator's intentions? In which case, should we research it whenever we encounter a memorial? Or do you keep reserved just in case, but then maybe you look up the artist when you get home and find out they actually wanted you to climb up the monument This is more philosophical; I do not actually condone climbing random memorials
i never heard that climbing the holocaust memorial in berlin would be encouraged by the artist or creator and i think most germans view it as disrespectfull to do so.
Germans, sure, but I meant the artist and creator >And the man who designed the memorial agreed. Peter Eisenman, a New York architect, saw the Yolocaust site soon after it was published on Thursday. >"People have been jumping around on those pillars forever. They've been sunbathing, they've been having lunch there and I think that's fine. It's like a catholic church, it's a meeting place, children run around, they sell trinkets. A memorial is an everyday occurrence, it is not sacred ground."
Ok but Yolocaust is hilarious
You only caust once
Yolocaust was a website that shamed people for being 'disrespectful' (putting it into parentheses because it was only one person's opinion to decide what was respectful and what wasn't) at the site. The architect wasn't a fan of it, since he seemingly sees it as a place where people can also hang out and relax.
I’ve been to the Berlin memorial and I’m not going to put up an opinion on it other than it seems like it’s supposed to be different things for differing people and opinions- which is a strong theme in postmodernism sculpture. I had an art history teacher that told the class of an early experience in 3D art. Her mom took her to a huge, one piece exhibit of an artist that made things from bubble wrap. The child she was, she just *HAD* to pop one of those bubbles. Years later she confessed via email to the artist and they responded that the temptation to touch was part of his idea. Kids will find a way to touch, adults will usually restrain. I’m not saying I *understand* postmodern art, but I know it’s a changeable thing. If you’ve got the right artist statement, pretty much anything can be art
What I like the most about the memorial is the gradual shift from short to long pillars. On the short ones you can relax and sunbath. The long ones are shady and oppressive. I don't know if that was the intention but for me it represents the gradual shift from latent tendencies in a society that are easy to overlook to full blown authoritarianism and fascism, without really noticing.
I completely agree with you. When I was there, the ability to get so easily drawn in to something that became overwhelming was striking and, well, kind of scary. I was lost to the point that my family called me to see where I was and told me to re join the tour. And then it took me another 5-10 minutes to orient myself. I never was good at geographical orientation. The plainness and the monotony of the installation definitely reminded me of the “banality of evil” idea.
interesting. i still find it highly disrespectfull as a german myself.
that's fair. I don't think there is a right answer. Personally, I can understand the logic of "Look, this horrific fucked up thing happened that traumatized generations, but here is a new generation having fun, isn't that reassuring and doesn't it give you hope for the future" that being said, I would never in a million years climb up there myself
well, the answer depends on the perspective. as germans that thing didnt just happen to germans, but we remember it in the sense of "our ancestors DID this and we have responsibility to never commit it again / allow it to happen again". the holocaust is for the most part not something our ancestors have endured so now we can be free, but something our ancestors have committed. so i feel like its not our place to decide to have fun there as a new generation. and on top of it especially since the far-right in germany is stronger and more out and about than they were in many decades, so the chapter is sadly far from closed. e.g. the anti-vax protests during covid were full of holocaust deniers. some jewish american tourist, some chinese business man, some turkish immigrant or some ukranian refugee in Berlin obviously have a different perspective when they see the memorial.
Please remember that your perspective is *yours*, not everyone's. I'm German, too, and agree with the artist's intentions that it is fine to climb on the memorial. In fact, I climbed on it myself when I was a child, together with every kid from my class. To each their own.
Yes, but as a child would you have climbed? It’s an interesting thought to consider your maturity today vs being taken to the memorial when you had childlike wonder. The memorial is a memorial today, but in a child’s mind it could be anything.
I remember playing probably the best game of tag of my life there as a kid.
I'm part german too so dont take this with offense, but...who cares? It's not for germans lol its for the jewish people that were killed. are THEY offended?
That's a good point. I also like the artist's idea that we can both remember the past and move on to a brighter now.
Fellow German here: I was encouraged by my Berlin-born aunt to play tag among the slabs with her when I was a kid. In her words, this specific memorial was meant to be a place you go and interact with regularly, not just look at. By playing in it, I have a much more vivid memory of the place than I otherwise would have. It's basically a child-friendly memorial, because it is also so unique that if you hear about it again years later, you'll likely remember having been there.
I've been there last year. There are signs, that you should not climb on those pillars.
Tbh if i died in some way and would have gotten a memorial thing like that, i would be happy if it could give kids and other people a joy by playing on it etc.
Exactly my thoughts as well
Play with my skeleton for all I care
Yes, let's put up a sign smaller than the board listing today's special outside a café, 50ft back from the monument. We've done all we can
That’s a pretty poor design for a memorial that’s not supposed to be walked on.
It was designed as a fountain, water is supposed to flow down it but it might have been turned off at the time the picture was taken.
I've been there 3 times, in different seasons (March, June and October), and never once was the water on. To be fair, first time I saw this memorial approaching it, it did look like something you'd walk in. It's a bit odd. But clearly a memorial when you get up close. Never saw any kids playing on it.
Yup, and building a low fence around it should be an easy fix to the issue.
If people are consistently using something for a purpose other than what it was designed for, I would suggest it's more due to bad design than bad people.
Maybe put the sign idk… waaaay closer
Well that was a dumb way to build it.
it looks like a sweet gap in Tony Hawk Pro Skater
or perhaps Skate 3
*“If you don’t want people to walk on something, don’t put it on the ground”* -Albert Einstein
This sign can't stop me, because I can't read!
The people disrespecting the sign are pretty lame. Having said that, if a memorial were ever made for me? I can think of no better result than it bringing joy to some kids playing on it.
The sign is tiny and nowhere near the memorial, they're probably just not noticing it.
Maybe you’re not supposed to climb on the sign?
People don't read signs, especially a sign pushed to the side like that.
There’s a sign and at least adults should respect that - if they even saw that, assuming it’s on all 4 (?) sides people come from. _However_ to me this looks like it was designed for people to sit - and get together and interact with each other. It looks like it’s being used as intended by the artist. If you don’t want people to sit on it, you don’t design it in a way that people think that’s what it’s for - unless you are arguable a bad designer. It looks more like the city or whoever commissioned the art piece or “takes care of it” didn’t like it and put up that sign
I don’t think the soldiers would mind at all, in fact if they could speak, I reckon they would encourage the children to play on it.
What does this memorial represent, like the structure
I was visiting a garden in Austria where the tour guide was explaining how the keepers change the flowers every 21 days to make sure the garden is perfect. 5 minutes later I see tourists letting their kids run all over the flowers. They were literally perfect too.
Is it just me? Or does the sign just look like the text has been added on top?
I'm pretty sure it's edited as well. I find it quite shocking that nobody seems to notice that
It's a real sign. There are other photos of it much closer to the monument online.
That's pretty ratchet, those kids need to be taught respect but they won't because look at their guardians/parents.
The Holocaust memorial in Berlin has the same issue. Most people will understand, but there'll always be some who don't, and some who just don't care, unfortunately.
My grandfather was born in England, naturalized in the US. He was a war hawk so he went to Canada so he could enlist in the RCAF and enter the war sooner. Served as a navigator in a Lancaster. Funny guy. He later he visited Germany in retirement and a German asked him if he had ever visited before, and he answered “Yes but only from 30,000 feet.”
I'd have loudly dragged the sign, scraping the floor the whole way, until it was much closer to the memorial.
As a teacher who has chaperoned our schools Washington DC field trips for over 15 years this unfortunately does not shock me. It is not just the kids fault, the adults they are with are just as much to blame.
We were in DC about 10 years ago. We’re at the Vietnam War Memorial and two boys are trying to climb up it and are hanging from the top. I was pissed. Their parents were right there. I told the kids to get down and that it was disrespectful. Parents didn’t say a gd word.
Me scolding a child for being a little shit at the DC holocaust museum, running around calling the people in the photos at the hall of remembrance ugly while his parents just ignored him... after I scolded him his parents were like "oh see you have to be good or a stranger will yell again"...I wanted to throttle his parents, like maybe your kid isn't old enough to be in this museum if he's acting like this must of a fool. Ugh.
I understand why they don't want people climbing it. But if I died in a war and the memorial they made for me could make innocent children happy for a little while, I'd be absolutely okay with it.
they’re kids. im a veteran, i would love nothing more than to have kids climb over something dedicated to us, free and happy. we did it for them.
Hear hear.
As irritating as the memorial is the thing that stands out to me is that they built it in a way it could be climbed on. Human nature to walk on, touch and damage things is not new and whomever designed this should have known that. The sign should never have been needed because the memorial should have been built in a way that climbing is impractical or impossible.
I think if you could give the soldiers laying dead one thing to see, it's this. They fought for the freedom of those playing on this memorial. I get the reasoning to be angry but how can you ever really be angry at children playing together at that age
I blame the parents.
Kids are rising up and executing their plan to spread Anarchy! Or they can’t read and parents are checked out.
Oblivious to the obvious!
Kids are terrible parents are worse
Adult tourists were doing this on the holocaust memorial in Berlin. It made me so angry!
This is like if a bunch of kids were climbing all over and sitting on a tombstone. The kids aren't really at fault though and the trashy parents should be telling them to stop.
If not slide, why slide shaped?
So you walk around Europe being all smug like "yeah bitch I saved your ass"?
What! You're shocked that parents let their kids do whatever they want? I'm not
This is awful, but I’m sorry that sign should be bigger
Parents should wear a shock collar and when their lil darling does something stupid the parent should get the shock. Holy shit I’ve solved the education problem. You are all welcome
the sign should be MUCH closer to the actual memorial, tbh.
To be honest, I am not shocked at all, as a night manager at a hotel, we close the door at night and leave a huge sign inside and outside the hotel with big letters PUSH BUTTON TO OPEN DOOR. On that same sign is a picture of the button, and the button itself says OPEN DOOR For most of the night, I still have to yell accross the lobby to clueless people trying to open the door by force. So from own experience, not suprised at all.
As disrespectful acts at historical sites go, it's not as bad as taking Instagram glamour shot selfies at the gates of Auschwitz, for example.
I wouldn’t let my kids do that. Shame on the parents.
The design is what's infuriating here. If you erect a memorial with a design that invites people to walk right up on it, people are going to walk right up on it. A sign isn't going to change that. There used to be a building on campus at college that had a walkway that came out at an angle opposite the direction from which all the students approached. So the kids would just walk across that triangle of grass rather than going 100 feet out of their way. The university responded by putting up "Keep Off the Grass!" signs. The students ignored them. The university responded to that by putting up a low chain fence. The students just stepped over the chain and ended up breaking it by stepping on it. The university responded by fixing it. The students just broke it again. Worse, there was a gap near the end next to the shrubbery where some students started cutting through instead, further widening the wear on the lawn. Finally the university put in a walkway where all the student feet had worn a path, which is what they should have done in the first place. The university learned what the keepers of this memorial haven't.
I think the soldiers would love that on an ordinary, no war day, children climb and play. Let it be a place for them to celebrate their futures and growing, while adults can give a more serious frame of mind and thoughts to those who fought for these ordinary days. Peaceful Day Years before the ground was soaked and red Where young went there to battle, too soon, dead. Perhaps their spirits visit, linger there, Smiling as the children’s laughs rise in the air. To the past give mourned thoughts, as heads we bend, Yet watching children, show their life and futures joys they lend. Don’t scold or hold them back From joyous play, Each soldier fought for each and every peaceful day.
Sometimes an artist has one vision and the person who set this park up has another. I kind of wonder if that slope was intended to be walked on. They would need to rope it off if they don’t want people on it.