Claim:   Photograph shows workmen who have accidentally trapped their van within a barrier of bollards.

Status:   Real photograph; inaccurate description.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, June 2007]

These men are concreting solid steel pillars to stop vehicles from parking on the pavement outside a sports bar in downtown Manchester. They are cleaning up at the end of the day. How long do you think it will be before they realize where their vehicle is parked? Nothing Like a Big 12 Education! These hard working men are installing and setting solid steel pillars in concrete to stop vehicles from parking on the pavement outside a sports bar in downtown Norman, OK. They are cleaning up at the end of the day. Dublin builders putting in bollards - do you see a problem here?

Origins:   The iconic image used to represent the concept of "failure to plan ahead" is a picture of the hapless homeowner who, on the verge of completing the task of painting or refinishing a floor, discovers that he has worked himself into a corner of the room from which there is no escape without treading all over his newly-finished floor. The photograph displayed above is another purported expression of this concept: Workmen installing bollards (i.e., short posts used for excluding or diverting motor vehicles) fail to notice that they've enclosed their van within the barrier they've just created and thus will be unable to leave without dismantling part of their work.

A few things about the claimed interpretations of the photograph don't ring true, however. First off, the picture has typically been accompanied by text placing it in a variety of locales (e.g., Manchester, England; Dublin, Ireland; and Norman, Oklahoma), in some cases as a way of taking potshots at rival groups by portraying them as foolish or unintelligent. (Norman, for example, is home to the University of Oklahoma, so the transplantation of the photo's setting from the UK to Oklahoma is an obvious form of collegiate rivalry.) The actual location, as indicated by the street signs and other contextual clues, appears to be a building on Quay Street in Manchester:


More important, though, is the fact that the bollards shown in the photograph appear to be of a type designed so that they can be removed and replaced with blanking caps (and thus the departure of the workmen's van is likely not as problematic as it might appear):

A cannon style bollard that is ideal for environments where preservation of a period or architectural style is desirable. Precision manufactured from Durapol® material, Victory Bollard is maintenance-free, requires no painting and will not rust, chip or splinter. The unique Glasdon patented Key-Locking Socket System gives the flexibility of a permanent, temporary or semi-permanent application. The system allows bollards to be removed and replaced with a blanking cap that locks securely into the socket using the same key.

Last updated:   19 February 2008

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