Following the tragic death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, heated debate broke out over who — if anyone — was accountable. It was a tough call, with many quick to point blame at the parents in what was ultimately a lose-lose situation.
Then again, sometimes the line of blame is a little bit less fuzzy. Case in point, the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania, shared this CCTV footage of a “teachable moment” earlier this week, when a guest blatantly ignored the museum’s “no touching” rule and started screwing around with a wooden sculpture clock designed by artist James Borden.
At first the man takes a picture of the clock, but then feels compelled to see how it worked by tugging around on the weights. In the video, he messes around with it for a jaw-dropping 50 seconds before the valuable piece falls to the floor and smashes. Museum Director Noel Poirier later said after reviewing the footage, that museum staff think the man was trying to see if he could get the timepiece to run.
“Once he pulled it up a little too high, that weight came off track and the heavy weight came down, hit the clock, knocked the clock off the wall, so then you see the results,” Poirier said. “I think what he was trying to do was raise the weight up because I think he thought that would make the clock run.”
For what it’s worth, although it appears in the video that the man and his wife lean the clock up against the wall and walk away, Poirier says that they did notify staff of the accident (whether or not they admitted fault is unknown).
Fortunately the museum will be able to repair the clock, which should be back on display in a few months. But for now the video serves as a warning for people to keep their hands to themselves when visiting the clock museum — or any museum, really.
(Via NBC Philadelphia)
