When Greg Byron from Channel 4 News heard about the Lawrence vending company incident leading to the fatality, he called me to better understand how this might have happened. Therefore, as a public service, I offered a demonstration and warning on Channel 4 regarding vandalism and potential consequences as it related to vending machines.
Some say a vending machine can fall accidentally, while others say that such a thought is outrageous or ridiculous. When have you heard of a refrigerator falling and killing someone? How about a falling lawnmower, ceiling fan or a falling tree?
No doubt, even a small car could be rocked with enough force to turn it over! It is a very rare happening that vending machine related deaths occur anywhere in the world.
When we hear of such incidents, we are never surprised to learn that the machines were being subjected to unreasonable and excessive vandalism and manhandling prior to any claim of "an accident" occurring.
Some movie and TV scene depict machine vandalism as a routine, easy target and stereotype for abuse. These scenes depict that it is OK, trendy, and plain innocent mischief to vandalize such equipment. Vending machines are somewhat like humans, they occasionally break down! Vending machines cannot offer an explanation for a malfunction. It is up to the human being to take a simple, practical, and logical approach in resolving the problem. Kicking the tires on a car or punching the hood owith one's first will obviously not help a car that has stalled... just like the violent rocking and rolling of vending machines will not teach the vending machines to resume propery functioning.
If it were hundreds or thousands of dollars lost, we could understand why some individuals may become upset. But for the loss of a dime or a quarter, I fail to understand the need for a human being to tackle a vending machine with intentional brute force when there are many very simple rational options available.
I urge you to think for a moment of the amount of effort it would take to bring your refrigerator crashing down to the floor. Then imagine it being three times or six times heavier than your present refrigerator! You be the judge.
Should you ever lose money in a vending machine, please remember to be a kinder and gentler human being and reach for the telephone instead...
Charles Hanna,
President