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Random acts of Mindless
Pont des Artes Bridge -A Metaphor
Six Word Photo Story Summer Challenge
The Bandwagon Effect. Rarely ends well.
People love to belong to clubs. So much so that we do it reflexively, creating clubs in our mind just so that we can join them.
Ripped jeans, hipster beards, religious garb, MAGA hats. We use these visual symbols to announce our membership in a particular club.
Then there are the clubs we join through our actions. Building little stone cairns on a beach. Throwing coins into fountains. Smoking Marlboros.
And putting locks on bridges, especially the Pont des Artes in Paris. I took this photo in April of 2014 (yes, the song comes to mind every time!). A few months later, a part of the bridge collapsed from the weight, an estimated 45+ tons of locks.
Adding locks is now forbidden by law, but many people still can’t resist. They must find a bridge for their lock, because it’s “romantic”. Because others have done it, so they must do it. They saw it on Instagram.
It’s called the Bandwagon Effect.
This writing prompt created by Mary Chang Story Writer for the 6-Word Photo Story Summer Challenge. Thank you for that!
