this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2024
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Mildly Interesting
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Someone here may have already pointed out why these warning exsisted but the pace makers that were in use back in the 70's and 80's would sometime malfunction around microwave ovens. The signs were to reduce liability.
It was an important plot point in an early episode of The Simpsons.
Always has been
what does this mean?
This building was a fire station, and bunker gear is the protective clothing that firefighters wear. I guess they didn’t want you bringing dirty/smoky clothes into the break room
They had to prove themselves worthy by fighting the oven with nothing but their bare hands, man to microwave.
You don't want the contaminants that used gear contains to get into clean spaces. No sense increasing cancer risk anymore than necessary.
I'd feel better about it if they'd let me wear bunker gear.
I’m more curious about this bunker gear, and what is depicted on that sign?
Bunker gear is the typical 'fire-proof' gear you see firefighters in when they might go into a burning building. Big, bulky, heavy, and often made of asbestos.
Bunker gear isn't using asbestos anymore. It would be nomex and kevlar now.
True, but I was thinking the sign might be from as far back as the microwave one.
Bunker gear:
This joke has been brought to you by the 1970s.
The 1970s: Come for the unrest, stay for the disco.
Everybody knows microwaves and bunker gear don't mix. Either you nuke, or you bunk.
i know that even then the shielding would prevent that wavelength.. but another part of me would be terrified of a refrigerator sized microwave built in the 60s
I was gonna say, I highly doubt there was a microwave oven in the entire city in the 60s.
And you weren't kidding!
1946: The RadaRange, the first commercial microwave, was sold to restaurants, ship galleys and canteens. This six feet tall, 750 pound microwave sold for around $5,000. ($80,846 today.)
1955: Tappan made the first residential microwave, which was rarely seen in homes due to its staggering size and $1,300 price tag. ($15,294 in 2024 bucks.)
Macrowave
styropyro in the chat!
"okay, hold on folk the peak will hit us any second and then we can get back to business for the next five minutes."
I know you guys probably already know this, but just to make it clear- just because the building was built in the 60s doesn't mean they couldn't have gotten a microwave and added a sign later :p
A walk-in microwave?
If you want to learn more about microwaves and how incredibly dangerous their components can be you should check out Styropyro's youtube channel.
Really hope he got his testosterone situation figured out.
What on earth is bunker gear?
Fire fighters gear.
I second this question.
In fairness if it had a microwave oven in the 60s, I'd probably want a warning if I was just near that building.
It was not a time when things were tested for long-term safety...
Jen told me the stupid science oven kills the nutrients in our food. Jen read stuff. But then Jen burned the house down after being told to not put metal in the science oven.
Sign went up day after some bastard put fish in it. Now there is a warning at least.
Yeah, pretty normal
It's to let the women know so that they don't accidentally nuke their eggs duh