Safety Scmafety

Growing up in the US, I have grown accustomed to the litigious nature of our culture. I mean turn on the TV and look at how many times lawyers and judges are prominently displayed as the main part of the plot. In fact, we have shows that are just about judges! Judge Judy, Judge Mathis and Judge Joe Brown take over the TV airwaves from 3 to 5 pm EST. My dad's favorite show is Law and Order, and my mom liked a show called Judging Amy, about a woman who works as a judge. Its because of this cultural indoctrination that living in China really opened my eyes to how "safe" and "lawsuit" proof many enterprises in the US operate.

For example, construction sites in the US are heavily guarded, almost like an Army base or the secret formula to Coke, with signage everywhere guiding the wayward pedestrian towards the safest, re: least likely to get injured or maimed and sue the sh** out of our company, path. If they left construction sites unprotected, would people really be dumb enough to wander right.....I stopped myself in mid sentence because I know the answer....of course they would. Heck, if I saw a giant crane in a mud crater lifting blocks I would want to take a closer look.

Juxtapose this with China. Either they trust their people more in China (doubtful, since they don't even let people in China change their Facebook status lest a revolution ensues...) or they just don't care (ie. go ahead and try and sue the Chinese government, good luck, we will decide how much you get, not some overpriced lawyer with a yacht to pay for...)

With that being the case, I shouldn't have been surprised by my close encounters with construction sites in China....check it out...