Fixing the Zip-Line Without Permission
Published August 06, 2021 · 7:17 · 614,015 views
About This Video
The zip-line at the playground has been broken for three years. Van rolls up with torx bits, two socket sets, and fake printed emails forged in the Werner Herzog tradition of document forgery to confuse any bureaucrats who might interfere. The plan: dismantle the track, replace the bearings and skateboard wheels, reassemble everything before anyone notices. The unpredictable variable is Jerry, the caretaker who lives in the house overlooking the playground and runs a tight ship.
Van compares Jerry to Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird, the irrational fear to which we fail to give the benefit of the doubt. Jerry turns out to be an ally, not an obstacle. He sees them wrenching on the equipment and assumes, correctly, they are dads fixing things for the kids. The community built this playground. The community fixes it. Seven minutes, and the zip-line runs smooth as an unmuddied lake.
Transcript
do you want to drop do you want to catch you [Music] the zip line has been broken for three years now dang it and this spirited man has decided to take matters into his own hands dang it my theory is that the bearings in the skateboard wheels are burned out you got to take these screws out these screws out these pull this whole thing down and then not get caught doing it because they'll stop you with their bureaucracy the plan is to roll up strong with tools dismantle the zip line track replace the bearings and wheels at least he thinks that's the problem then reassemble the whole thing before anyone notices or has a chance to pull rank on him this is an unauthorized repair no permission
oh we tried to go through the proper channels we tried wrote up an email explained ourselves offered our services free sent the email then nothing stonewalled no response so we're just going to roll up and do it they'll never know what hit them but there is one unpredictable variable in our plan a variable that could potentially get us banned from the playground and possibly the square dances for life that variable has a name and that variable's name is jerry jerry is the caretaker who lives in that house overlooking the playground jerry is the eye in the sky watching us all and jerry runs a tight ship
but we're prepared for jerry so i think can you come over sooner than 4 30 yes okay because we're gonna need to do some werner herzog style document forgery and i think you're the man for it what time this man werner herzog one of filmmaking's great heroes advises filmmakers to develop an aptitude for document forgery so that you may confuse the bureaucrats who try to get in the way of your production so we arrive at the playground not only with torx bits and two socket sets to open the zipline track but also fake printed out emails
to smoke screen any bureaucratic procedures with which jerry may try to stymie us prepared by mr slace oh all right so here's our problem all the balls have fallen out are you rolling he just said that they're going to close jerry's right down there he just said that they're going to close the playground at 5 30 what time do you have 508 okay 20 minutes okay we can finish
all right if the cops do show up they won't be in time to catch us doing anything okay okay and with the three remaining screws only partially tightened along came jerry [Music] do you remember boo radley do you know who boo radley is well judging from his tracks he's about six and a half feet tall he eats raw squirrels
and all the cats they can catch boo radley is the character all the kids were afraid of and to kill a mockingbird but in the end he turns out to be not only the guy who was leaving toys in the elm tree for the kids to find but also the man who ends up saving jim finch from the evil bob yule boo radley is the irrational fear to which we fail to give the benefit of the doubt boo radley is our lack of faith turns out jerry was not an enemy to be feared but an ally to be respected he saw us working and assumed rightfully that we were one of the dads wrenching on the equipment for the kids to play with this whole place was financed and built
by the moms and dads and other people of the community after we finished the zipline jerry even had us help him open the newly fixed slide ahead of schedule as for the zip line smooth has an unmuddied lake sir [Music] you
Products & Tools Mentioned
- Torx screws recommends — prefers over flathead
- socket set uses — used in zip-line repair
- skateboard wheel bearings uses — repurposed for zip-line trolley
People Referenced
Werner Herzog
Films & Media Referenced
- referenced thematically