Canary in a coal mine

My mom told me the other day that the U.S. press is characterizing the collapse of the Icelandic banking system as "the canary in the coal mine." I mentioned this to my Icelandic relatives the other day, and they were confused. I had to explain that a canary in a cage was lowered into the mining shaft before the miners, and only if it kept singing would the men go down. I suppose the canary also stayed with the men all day long, chirping and singing as long as everything was fine, but quickly dying if the air turned poor. The metaphor does not work in a country that does not have a deep history of mining, no memories of mine shafts that can fill with carbon gas before the workers even realize it. For me growing up, mining was a meaningful symbol of California's first settlement, of the potential riches of the soil, of a hard way of life we were overcoming. (One folksong I learned in elementary school about miners dying enmasse "In the town of Springfield, Nova Scotia" still haunts me). 

I think it would be good if Icelanders got acquainted with this metaphor, first of all because, although Iceland has suffered recently, it was not Iceland's fault -- there was a world wide problem and Iceland only the most sensitive, the most exposed. Secondly, the canary does all the men a great service, saves them all from dying by showing them how dangerous the situation was. Thirdly, it suggests capitalistic excess may become a thing of the past, like mining for coal sans any safety standards. Fourthly, Icelanders may have been taking their situation for granted, thinking they were safe in their cage when they were not. 

But mostly I like to think about the metaphor of the canary in the coal mine because at the end of most days, the canary is lifted up out of the shaft, still singing and alive.