October 17, 2009

Plink Plink

So both Cranky Emeritus Blogger Merry, and helpful reader Gina, sent me this video clip. It's an innovative idea for encouraging people to take the stairs instead of the escalator and I just had to share it:



Cool, huh?

(And if you have slow bandwidth or are otherwise video-averse: basically they took a flight of stairs next to an escalator, turned them into piano keys that play notes when people step on them. And voila--stair usage went way up!)

But here's the thing: being Crabby McSlacker, I couldn't help wondering how this would play out in real life. Would it be all excited plinking and plonking and happy grins and laughter?

Or instead, would you have harried commuters missing their trains during rush hour due to dilly-dallying schoolchildren and aimless tourists stomping out "Chopsticks" and "Frere Jacques" over and over? How often would the stairs be taken Out of Service to enable specially trained Musical Stair Repair Techs to unjam piano keys gummed up with spilled cokes and chewing gum? Plus, what about the lawsuits filed by aggrieved parents whose kids would no doubt break limbs while flinging themselves from key to key?...

Good thing I'm just a grumpy blogger instead of an urban planner!

(Still, it does look kinda fun doesn't it?)

17 comments:

  1. That's brilliant! Transport For London should try something similar! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish they'd try it in my city. Hmm. Maybe I'll send my municipal councillor the URL...

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOL1 I absolutely LOVE the idea! How fun!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my gosh, I LOVE that. See, kids love escalators. I have five kids. We always take the escalator for the "cool/fun" facotr but if THOSE stairs were around I know my kids would all want to take the stairs. Although yeah, they would be getting tripped over and clogging up traffic playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with their feet.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I saw this on the news & I LOVED the idea. Now you have to bring your crankiness into it!!! :-)

    I still like it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. WTF? I commented a few hours ago and it is gone.

    My point was boring anyway. I figured everyone would get bored quickly and go back to the escalator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would totally take the stairs if I saw that. That being said, I'd have to make sure I had them to myself so I could play a good tune.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Now that was worth the download time! I would really hate to be stuck hearing it at rush hour, though.

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's what cities need! More cacophony :)

    Seriously, anything that encourages little kids to exercise is a good idea in my book. Well, unless it's going door to door to ask for chocolate. I'm kind of a grinch about Halloween. Otherwise, it's a good idea.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You have once again earned my admiration for your crankiness, Crabby. ...spilled cokes, chewing gum and lawsuits. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I LOVE IT!!!!!!

    I always take the stairs and it irks me how many people take the escalators even just one flight. It's not that difficult to walk up a flight of stairs! Sighs. But games make it all that much easier :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. It might end up being a lawsuit waiting to happen, but, in the meantime, it'd sure be fun!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Super cool idea, but I have to say I would make a terrible cacophony!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had seen this just the other day and thought it quite amusing. I try to take the stairs anyway but I think I'd get an extra kick out of making music on my way up. I think it would probably work for many who are as easily amused as I am. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think it's cute. I think it would be even more entertaining at rush hour with harried workers scurrying up and down.

    ReplyDelete
  16. hahahah! i would be late EVERY DAY! Great idea though, I really loved and was fascinated by the fact that the escalator remained empty for most of the video. Awesome. ps. i have no attention span. that would never get old to me. hahaha!

    ReplyDelete
  17. That is really fun! I would so take the stairs!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting, Cranky Fitness readers are the BEST!

Subscribe to comments via RSS

(Note: Older Comment Threads Are Moderated)