The three-legged ladder from yesterday's April 1 post is a real thing. Of course, no studio technicians or key grips are endorsing the use of it.
The picture of the three-legged ladder is from a small studio I was working in. I was surprised to see it. Ladders are a leading cause of accidents, removing one leg to make it even more unstable seems to not make sense. My thought was why would anyone make such a thing but here it was.
I researched it online to find an explanation. There is a reason for this odd design. The three-legged ladder is intended for industrial use in tight spaces too small for the legs of a standard ladder especially where equipment is in the way. There is a small niche for this ladder. Certainly it is not recommended in other situations since this design is less stable than a regular ladder.
PS: "Nothing we do is worth anyone getting hurt."
I got a ladder and safety lesson many years ago at the old Block Stages in Cincinnati, Ohio. There was an old rickety ladder on one of the stages that us young grip/electrics joked as "the widow maker." One day on a shoot, dumb and young, I was on the ladder. The house camera operator, Bud, came over and looked at the ladder. He said, it was unsafe and we should throw it away now. He helped me carry it out to a dumpster. There he said we need to break it apart so no one takes it out and uses it again. We broke it apart and threw it in the dumpster. He told me, "Nothing we do is worth anyone getting hurt."
There is truth to this. I keep it in mind everytime I am on-set.
PPS: For more fun here is last years April 1 post; Don't Leave the Ends of Stingers Plugged Together:
https://electricgrip.blogspot.com/2020/04/electricians-tip-dont-leave-ends-of.html
Surprisingly,
I have joked about this before and people ask me if it is true. I guess there is something compelling about the idea. It seems like it could
be true but of course it is not.