There is a MYTH that persists to this day that somehow Professional Cinema Film Projectionists
were/are some kind of " Gurus / Gods Of Film Projection " and totally infallible and "Grand Masters Of
Film and Film Equipment " Who were guardians of some inner knowledge and skills of projection.
Well that's not true we are/were all fallible at times myself included.
That what makes us human.
However there have been a number of projectionists who take the merit of being downright STUPID.
For example one Projectionist decided to grease the gears of a 35mm machine whilst it was running during
a show. He placed a blob of grease on the tip of a screw driver and succeeded in destroying not only the
screwdriver but the gears of the machine putting it instantly out of action . He was lucky he was not
put out of action too.
Another example of is of someone dismantling a cinemascope lens in the hope of dislodging some piece
of matter from one of its elements. Failure here again as such precision lenses require specialist optic
knowledge and equipment to do so. The lens was never the same again.
So there you go. Some projectionists cross the boundaries of being merely "fallible" to the ranks of
downright STUPID.

Note "fallible" does not mean "stupid" In fact "ignorance" ( not knowing of something ) does not qualify someone as being stupid either.
If you don't "know" something it does not follow that you are stupid or a "numptie".
Stupid is when you do know you are not qualified to do something and do it anyway.
Stupid is when you do know not to try and maintain a machine while it is in motion and do so anyway.
The consequences of taking such risks can be dire and far reaching indeed. Not just to your own and others safety but
also to your reputation as a Projectionist.
Mistakes are normal and forgivable but sheer stupidity is not. End of lecture ... hahahahahaha !!