Title: Have you sued your friend today?
Subtitle: People enjoy this legal blame game too much
Date: September 29, 2006
It’s been a while since I last ranted, hasn’t it? Well I’ve grown many many more months, so hopefully I’ll be smarter. I’m going to try and rant at least once a month now.
Anyways, today’s topic was a lot harder to chose then the past rants. I basically picked what was under my skin the most since the last rant and did something about that. However, I have four or five things that were pissing me off the most when I set down to type this today. Dang, I’m turning into Huey.
So, I finally picked one after a lot of debate. Why am I ranting about this particular topic? Because I was thinking about how much my back was hurting. It had rained last night and I was pissed off this morning when I woke up so I wasn’t watching where I was going and slipped down some stairs. Great, now I’m covered in leaves and my back has been in pain all day. But that’s not the point.
I started thinking about my going to a chiropractor for the past year, and my insurance company has going crazy because of that. Yeah, since I’m a minor my parents handle it, but they let me know what’s up. Sometimes I’ll look at the letters before they see it.
So why are they always sending me letters asking what happened to my back? Well obviously so that they can find out who they should sue and get money for it. I mean, that’s the point of most of their questions. I can see most of you going, “so what?”
Here’s “so what” its annoying. When my insurance company found out I had back problems they instantly were like “Holy crap, who can we sue?” They probably didn’t even think to ask if I had freaking scoliosis, which is probably very well the case. They just wanted to know who was to blame and who they could sue.
Meh, just because I slipped on ice when I was a kid, does that mean they have the right to sue the school because there was ice because it had freaking snowed the night before? In my opinion, it really doesn’t. Why? Because all I got was a bump on my head, whined a bit and got on with my day. That might not even be the cause; it could be genetic.
Or perhaps they could sue the weather for making the ice in the first place instead. That makes just about as much sense, people can’t control the weather or it’s affects. And since it wasn’t a delayed opening, they couldn’t melt the ice that morning.
Seriously. And with the recent case dealing with the back, if they ask I’d laugh my head off. Would they want to sue my father for making the steps that I slipped on? Or maybe my mom for having a garden near the stairs with plants on the stairs that helped make it more slip-able. Or maybe they could sue the weather for raining and making things slick in the first place. Oh yeah, that all makes sense.
Not really.
Oh wait, here’s more on how stupid people have gotten with the ability to sue these days.
A man actually tried to sue himself. Yeah, yeah, laugh if you want. I’m both amused and appalled by the fact that someone’s actually stupid enough to try that.
Here’s the circumstances: you run into your car with a garbage truck that you use from the city. What do you do? If you were smart, you’d beat yourself over the head, probably utter a few well-chosen profanities, and if it was a really nice car, flip yourself off. What does the idiot person do that sees lawsuits everywhere do? Tries to sue himself.
Oh wait, they tried to stop him, saying that he couldn’t and it wasn’t legal. Then he got his wife to sue him instead, and she agreed. Why would a wife want to sue her own husband? The choices are she’s either as stupid as him or really hates him. I vote for the former.
But seriously, does that make a lot of sense to you?
And here’s another one that gets me. It’s the middle of the night, your and everyone else in the house are sound asleep. A thief breaks in. He trips down the stairs on his way out and breaks his arm. The sound wakes you up. You call the police. Then you are all set to have the law crack down on this would-be-burglar and then your lawyer comes up and hands you a paper with a strange look on his face. What does it say? The thief is suing you...for having a staircase.
A freaking staircase. That he tripped on during the night, breaking his arm being an idiot. What else happens, he can freaking win. Yeah, that’s right. He can win too.
Even though this would-be burglar was at fault, clearly. He went into a stranger’s house, a home he probably didn’t know the layout of, in the dark. Mistake number one, stuff like that will happen. You will trip and injure yourself. Secondly, by trying to sue you, he’s basically saying “Yeah, I broke and entered with intent to steal their stuff.” Mhm, I dunno, but if I was a thief, I wouldn’t try to do that.
And there are lots and lots of other cases like that around America, and probably the whole world if I looked for them. Yeah, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Mhm, I’m going to take a moment and explain the blame game I mentioned in the subtitle.
Basically, something bad happens and everyone goes around saying it’s someone else’s fault, in a way fitting a moron. Especially when they’re at fault and they want someone else to be their scapegoat. Now don’t take me wrong, there are instances where it is perfectly alright to sue, reasonably. Like someone else smashes up your car because they weren’t being careful and you were. You can sue them, because they are clearly at fault. However, it would not be right for them to sue you saying that you weren’t careful. And that is the blame game.
Here’s a more twisted example that’s probably used quite frequently in blame game lawsuits.
A person goes to someone else’s house, yes, its much like the earlier example with the thief, but different. This is in broad daylight and they were invited over. So this person is not at fault yet. However, the person is running around in a narrow corridor and tries to make a tight turn, too tight and too late. Stupid. They smash their foot into a doorframe and break their toe.
Who’s fault is it? It’s not really my right to say, but I will say regardless. It was the guest’s fault. They were running around and they smashed their foot into a doorframe. The person that lives there was three feet behind and had nothing to do with it what-so-ever, other then the fact that it was in their house.
So what will the guest do? If they’re a smart, logical, and reasonable, nothing much, offer a few well-chosen profanities, splint the toe up and see a doctor. It was their fault for running in the first place, considering the person that lives there didn’t do anything, and they knew that door frame was there; they just had a stupid moment. It happens, and such moments aren’t pretty.
In the blame game however, the guest would sue the person that invited them over. Yes, I can see the argument now, “Where’d that doorframe come from?” Well it just didn’t jump out, the guest ran into it. That doorframe had been there for a long time, so it just didn’t randomly “appear out of nowhere” or “jump out viciously with intent to maim.”
Logically, it’s not the person’s fault, it’s the guest’s. Therefore a lawsuit shouldn’t be able to be made. But with the blame game, if it’s in their house, it’s their fault. And that doesn’t make much sense, now does it. The blame game is stupid and is costing smart people thousands of dollars. Or stupid people thousands of dollars. Either way it’s wrong, but it’s legal. Wow. Had that guest been anyone but her other friends or myself, I know my friend would’ve been sued. My friend’s parents really, but that doesn’t make a difference.
Here’s another blame game lawsuit. Ever noticed the warning labels on the coffee cups you get, “Caution: Contents maybe hot.” Or something like that? Yeah, ever wondered why? The blame game is the source of that. If I ever ordered a fresh cup of joe from a restaurant (which I would never ever do), I would fully expect it to be warm, warm enough to be extremely uncomfortable if I poked the liquid. And excruciatingly painful if I spilled it all over my lap. I’m sure that almost anyone who orders a cup of coffee expects that too. However, someone didn’t. They probably wanted it to be a few days old or something.
They ordered some fresh hot coffee and put it in their car. Now, I dunno about that person, but I would’ve noticed that the contents were hot just by touching the cardboard cup that held the coffee. I’m sure you readers would have as well. So, if I had to make a sudden break and the coffee spilled all over my lap, I know I curse the coffee for being warm, and later on myself for being stupid.
But I would never ever think of filing a lawsuit against the company for “not warning me that the coffee was hot” when it was quite obvious that it would be. Especially if I had taken a sip of it. Hot coffee is expected when you order a cup. You shouldn’t require a warning, but some people obviously do.
I guess common sense isn’t all that common.
So, the next time you’re thinking about filing a lawsuit step back a moment and try to look at it subjectively. Consider all of the facts that you know about, and try and get more facts if you can before filing that lawsuit. If it’s logically your fault, drop it. However, if it was the other person that was clearly at fault, go ahead.
Need another example? Okay, pretend you’re a parent with a kid. Get those dirty thoughts out of your head.
Now then, your kid gets in a fight with another kid and his arm winds up broken, and it’s going to require surgery to fix. The hospital bill is going to be thousands of dollars. Here’s a quick guide for whether or not to file a lawsuit against the other kid.
Was it your kid’s fault? Did he instigate the fight? Don’t even think about filing the lawsuit. With the first question, your kid started it and landed on his ass. Yeah, it sucks for him, and your budget, but that’s the price for stupidity. That is the blame game.
Was if the other kid’s fault? Did your kid not want part of the fight? Then yes, by all means. That’s not the blame game. That’s something else entirely.
Another factor to consider, but makes it more difficult to come up with an answer is if the other kid’s gotten almost as much damage and the parents have to pay just as much. If you’re considerate, then you wouldn’t because it’s not cool. If you’re an ass, then you probably would regardless.
Cheers and toodle-pip
~DigiTails