The world has two significant problems as I see it. One is that coma patients are stuck in boring hospitals with little change of scenery (maybe they're just asleep form boredom). The second problem is that some single drivers would like to drive in the carpool lane, if only they had the means (other than expending the effort of finding someone to carpool with). This idea will fix both of these problems.
The idea is for a fully automated patient monitoring and care facility that is conveniently sized to be placed in a vehicle. Where some may see this as blatantly abusing a loophole in carpool laws, others will see this as a good way to get involuntary shut-ins some fresh air and scenery.-- Worldgineer, Feb 23 2004 (??) Keep your eyes on the road http://money.cnn.co...porn.reut/index.htm [theircompetitor, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] after 9/11 when the tunnels in NYC required a second person to get into the city between 6AM & 10AM, I seriously considered getting a blow up doll for the purpose.
However, I was concerned that I would never live down that arrest.-- theircompetitor, Feb 23 2004 And just imagine the fun you could have! Dress them up as a clown, a fire breathing dragon (complete with fire), or use a series of pulleys and strings to have your own Weekend at Bernie's life sized action figure!Did that car just cut you off? Use your CCCCCC to flip them off! Are you getting pulled over with a lit joint in your mouth? No big deal! No judge will convict a comatose person for smoking a spliff! And best of all, it's a great theft deterrent. Just place a very realistic plastic shotgun in their hands, along with a sign that says "Not afraid to go back to prison."-- AfroAssault, Feb 23 2004 This generalizes to an all-coma-patient personnel agency, which I'm sure would do rather well. Padding out entourages and infomercial audiences and so on. (Yes, and at the DMV/post office/standing in for that one actor, etc.)
I guess the employer would be bound by the usual labour laws. Might be nice to come out of a coma with a year's wages in the bank, no gap in your resume, and possibly a lucrative position in the crooked union.-- Monkfish, Feb 23 2004 I'd still like to wake up from a coma in a strange room chock full of empty chairs, with a note scribbled on the wall in blood that says, "it's too bad it came to this, hope you can survive the horror that awaits."-- AfroAssault, Feb 24 2004 Call me insensitive (or don't), but I don't understand the - votes.-- thumbwax, Feb 24 2004 How about a virtual companion -- see link-- theircompetitor, Feb 24 2004 [worldgineer] solving the world's two biggest issues in one is brilliant ... genius.
Can't wait for your single policy treatise on global warming and terrorism. +-- jonthegeologist, Feb 24 2004 I want to use the coma patients to act out the aftermaths of violent car accidents, thus encouraging people to use public transport instead.-- kropotkin, Feb 24 2004 Do I want to know what inspiation means?-- k_sra, Feb 24 2004 Grrrr. Pedants.-- Worldgineer, Feb 24 2004 If you remove the 'ed' it spells 'pants.'-- k_sra, Feb 24 2004 Then you can remove a "p" and end up with ants. Hilarity ensues.
I'm removing the link to my inspiration "coma patient puppetry", which disappeared with [benfrost]'s account (and doesn't exist on the waybackmachine). Too bad, I liked it.-- Worldgineer, Jun 26 2004 [+] ...but only if you bring them into (their old) workplace as well.-- Dub, Feb 27 2006 This can be very useful for a visable security prescence. Give them all cop uniforms and have them stand around the area of any particular venue. There will be 2 or 3 real cops to handle any trouble that arises.-- Jscotty, Feb 27 2006 Just found this, and I can't in good conscience not vote for it.-- shapu, Nov 15 2006 Thanks [shapu].-- Worldgineer, Nov 15 2006 Hey, I'm Johnny Helpful.-- shapu, Nov 16 2006 //Might be nice to come out of a coma with a year's wages in the bank//"He's spending a year dead for tax reasons"-- angel, Nov 16 2006 random, halfbakery