So, I’m watching the news this lunchtime and I hear the following -
‘It’s thought that the fire was sparked by an industrial vacuum cleaner which had been left on for two days …’
I snort with laughter, and think ‘stupid fuckers!‘ Because, really, who but an airhead would do such a thing? And then I lift my eyes to the screen and see the burned out wreck of the beautiful, gorgeous, previously-in-near-perfect-condition Cutty Sark!
The news item was about the inquiry into the fire which gutted the little ship last year, and apparently they are putting the blame on the renovation workers for leaving the vacuum running, and the security staff for not raising the alarm sooner. Those bastards apparently faked a log entry and failed to perform a required fire check, putting their feet up instead. They were instantly sacked, of course, but it doesn’t turn back the clock, does it?
I mean, this is the Cutty Sark, people!! One of the last tea clippers to be built, and until last year, the best preserved. A beautiful, elegant little 19th century sailing ship. Here you can see what she looked like before the fire, and here is a painting of her under sail. How is it possible that people could have been so careless with her?
When I was a child, living in London, my father took me to see the Cutty Sark at Greenwich. I remember being awestruck and enchanted. Later, when I visited her as a young adult, I remember thinking how small and fragile she looked, considering how long she would have stayed at sea, and how many men must have lived on board. Thankfully, a lot of the timber decking and all of the museum artifacts had been removed for the restoration and were saved from the flames, so I’ll be able to visit again some time in the future when she is once more restored to her former glory.
But she will never again be the perfectly preserved, authentic, and genuine merchant sailing ship that she once was. And that’s very, very sad.
So, tell me. Why is it that people have so little pride in doing their jobs properly these days?  Where did the attitudes of ‘as little as you can get away with’ and ‘it doesn’t matter’ and ‘no-one will know’ and ‘it’s not my responsibility’ come from?
And – please! – how can we get rid of them again?
What a pretty ship! I looooooove boats, especially clipper ships and wooden sailboats – how sad that someone was such an idiot. Who leaves a vacuum cleaner running for two days, anyhow???
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I always have loved driving through Greenwich on my way to London and seeing the masts of the Cutty Sark over the tops of the buildings.
Such a tragic thing to happen to such a beautiful ship
It’s called integrity, and it’s in short supply these days. You would think people would be more worried about doing a good job and keeping their jobs. No, some people only care about seeing how little they can do and still get a paycheck. It’s like a game.
I’m sad for the old ship. She was a fine one!
Peace – D
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Oh, what a tragedy! Yes, same attitude in many instances here as well. I think their superiors should mind their workers’ abilities or lack of more closely. The word slacker exists because there are such people, unforunately.
How long will renovations take?
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My father took me to see her as a child as well, and I shared your awe. In a way it was reverential – she was just SO special.
Honestly, if you can’t remember to switch off your industrial equipment at the end of the day you should be put somewhere where you can do no damage to anything. Either that or forced to sell wireless bluetooth headsets for a living to people who use them.
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Mama Cass killed by a ham sandwich, the Cutty Sark, burned by a rogue vacuum cleaner.
Life sure as heck isn’t fair, is it.
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Oh that was a terrible thing to happen. Many a time I walked on the deck of the Cutty Sark – a beautiful old ship.
There seems to be very little ‘taking pride in your work’ left today. I truly think that ‘standards’ have been drastically lowered in most things now, and quality seems to be a thing of the past.
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Angi – Apparently it was being used to ‘remove waste’ from the ship, during renovations.
The last worker to use it before he left that Friday afternoon admits it was left on, and no-one else remembered turning it off for him, so it was left on over the weekend. *Sigh*
Taffy’s Mum – Indeed. She graced the skyline, and it was tragic.
River Poet – Ah, yes, that’s the word. Integrity. There seem to be fewer and fewer of us with any left. I’m encouraged though, that quite a few of the young people do have it, so maybe it’s just a glitch and the upcoming workers will be better.
One can only hope.
Petra – I agree, those who employ these people are probably cutting corners and should watch them more closely!
They’ve been working on the renovations since the accident happened last year, and they expect renovations to be complete by early 2010.
Somnambulist – Yep. Those workers should never be put in charge of anything electrical, or where the safety of anything valuable, or of any person, is at stake. And I expect they’ll only get a slap on the wrist in addition to the dismissal.
‘Forced to sell wireless Bluetooth headsets’! ROFL!
Jenn – You got that right! And Mama Cass was a great loss.
Babs – I know… and I think political correctness has to take some of the blame. It’s no longer PC to blame anyone for anything! No-one must be made to feel bad because of their lack of skill, their lack of standards, their lack of integrity or anything else. It’s all ‘something-or-other challenged’ these days.
Have we forgotten how to call a spade a spade?
So careless! These things are/were national treasures. Even restoration won’t bring back that air of history where you wish ‘if only the walls could speak’
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Oh but Jay, we can’t go upsetting people! That really wouldn’t do! If we pointed out their bad workmanship they may need counseling!
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Baino – I agree. The ship will still be a wonderful and fascinating museum piece once it’s fully restored but without the original timbers and masts etc, some of the magic will be gone, for sure.
Babs – Ha! Do you remember the days when us kids would be sat in a corner and told to stay there and think about what we’d done? Or we’d be told to ‘just do that again, would you? It’s not quite right’. Is it a coincidence that our generation is mainly consciencious and responsible?
OK, those things could be – and sometimes were – taken to extremes, and no-one wants to put a child off questioning or trying their best, but we’ve gone so far the other way now. Gah.
I don’t know how things got to this state. How do we train people to do something right because of the internal satisfaction they gain rather than the external reward? Once they’ve become adults, I think it’s pretty much a lost cause.
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I was quite horrified when I found out that the Cutty Sark had burned to to the waterline. What a horrible thing to happen to such a beautiful ship, and what a bunch of putzes they had working on it.
The only equivalent that we have here is the USS Constitution, a Revolutionary War ship that is actually still a commissioned US Navy vessel. It really is a beautiful ship.
Cutty Sark. Very poor whiskey, great ship.
How does one “accidentally” leave on a vacuum cleaner for two days? I mean really?
The ship is truly lovely, and although she won’t be the same, at least they’re putting in the effort to make it beautiful again.
I’m assuming the scotch was named after her?
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