Conversation

So, back in the day, I trained as a safety inspector for temporary mobile stages, the things you'd find at music festivals and the like. There's actually a lot that goes into it, because those things are quite intricate and have to be carefully assembled and deployed.

One day, shadowing an experienced inspector at a hippie-revival festival, we came across a particularly subtle but significant issue with the overhang above the stage. It lacked adequate retaining pins, and would be prone to failure under heavy wind loads.

I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but as the headlining band rehearsed nearby, it became very clear.

... And that's how the Fifth Dimension convinced me that this is the awning of a stage that's precarious.