Hazadous Smazerous ... I' m certain the term HAZ MAT hadn't even been created back in the '50s. People back then had enough room in their brains to remember whole words, besides it takes too long to recreate what some of the abbreviated terms we use now actually mean. It's much simpler to remember the words. THWA or The hell with acronyms.
I do remember certain incidents in the past few years when entire schools or workplace had to be evacuated because someone accidently dropped a small container of mercury on the floor. That called for a mass evacuation of the premises, after which highly trained crews of EMS and HAZ MAT specialists, clad in special protective gear would enter the building and remove the mercury, and clean and sanitize the entire school building.
The kids were sent home for two or three days before the all clear was given. During it all, teams of TV reporters and cameramen lined up frantically outside the schools recording the throngs of grieving parents , there demanding the principals be fired head and a full explanation of how and why this horrible tragedy could have happened.
Turn the clock back sixty years, the dark ages I suppose. 7th grader William Fuller brings a house thermometer to school. He smashes the glass vial holding the mercury and silvery droplets of mercury quiver on the desk top. Willy announces to the boys sitting around him to watch this magical performance he is about to perform. He takes a copper penny and manages to get a drop of mercury on it. Then barehandedly, he rubs the element over the penny until magically the penny turns bright silver. Soon, half the boys in the class are using Willy's mercury to coat their pennies.
The next day, a good percentage of the boys in class have stripped their homes of any mercury thermometers . A three day rampage begins where anything that would accept the mercury would get a treatment, including fingernails and - get this - teeth. Yep it was a sight to behold, a dozen dopey 6th grade boys, their teeth, fingernails and whatever else was handy all standing in a classroom laughing at each other's silver plating.
The bright finish didn't last very long. Silver turned into an ugly black after several minutes. By the time the nun arrived to begin class, we stood there with a mouthful of black . If anything, we looked toothless. Sister Francis screamed to us to get our faces and mouths washed out quickly. We were given a bar of powerful soap to use , fels naphtha, the strongest, foulest product I had ever smelled. It could take the paint off a brush and the rust off a tarnished piece of steel. Sister was sure it would get rid of any traces of the mercury.
No HazMat, No reporters
Willy is dead, so is Ted. Stan too. 62 years later, I am still kicking ....but -- I do have a wart on my index finger where I rubbed the mercury over the penny. Back then who knew that the cure for mercury poisoning was fels naphtha soap. Damn those nuns were smart.
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