Death of Common Sense

[knkali]

If there was an ounce of common sense left small business's wouldn't need insurance. Many folks think of insurance like a credit card, it's not really money. Don't take into consideration raised premiums.

I consider insurance lawyer protection. And judges, well they started out as lawyers........a vicious circle.

People sue people. Lawyers and judges are part of that world. Lawyers, ethical ones, do not put a gun to people's heads forcing them to sue. Did you hear the one about the ...................................(insert lawyer joke here).

Yep, I agree that people look at insurance as a credit card. Attorneys sure do.

[Bawanna]

People sue people. Lawyers and judges are part of that world. Lawyers, ethical ones, do not put a gun to people's heads forcing them to sue. Did you hear the one about the ...................................(insert lawyer joke here).

Yep, I agree that people look at insurance as a credit card. Attorneys sure do.

The sad part is most people are sheep. Lawyers are wolves. Your good, I've never seen lawyer and ethical in the same sentence before. I need to write that down.
Case in point, a neighborhood kid and my kid got into a kid type scuffle. Long story short my kid ended up with a broken nose. His parents (generally good people) indicated if I tried to sue they had witness's it was mutual.
I've never sued or even considered suing anyone for anything. The common sense solution in this case if in fact it were warranted would be me to go down there and break their kids nose and up it one notch by maybe taking out a couple of teeth. No lawyers fee's, no court, no judge. Next time jr will think twice before sucker punching with an elbow after the squabble was over. Maybe not in his case, as good as his parents are he's a lot slow in the intelligence arena and has severe anger management issues too.

[JFootin]

If you ever buy an Estwing hammer, check out the warning label that comes with it.
Supposedly you are NOT to use the hammer for hitting wood, metal (including nails!!!), brick, plastic, cement, plaster, ... etc.
Riiiight.
Now exactly WHAT is a hammer used for? Contact their legal department, I'm sure they'll tell you that hammers are to be looked at... not for striking objects. Common sense has nothing to do with our legal system.

My battery operated nose hair trimmer with the small rounded head has a warning on it NOT to insert it in the nostrils!

[Tinman507]

So does mine. Go figure

[wyntrout]

That's good for "bikini trims", too. Anyone remember Marcie doing the Brazilian Bikini Waxes on women on Californication? OUCH!

Wynn

[muggsy]

I want to comment on the hot coffee thing. I read that the cup fell into her lap and caused injuries that required multiple surgeries to her genitalia to correct. Also the temp of the coffee was very close to boiling which is much greater than a hot cup of coffee. Not sure if these facts will change anyone's opinion on this issue but thought I would get it out there to show that there was a little more to it than what most think.

Any elbow who doesn't know that coffee is hot and that it shouldn't be dumped into ones lap deserves to get burned. Didn't change my opinion one bit. You are paying for that woman's stupidity and carelessness with every McDonald's purchase that you make. Does that change your opinion?

[LaP]

I went to the local ice cream shop & ordered a large vanilla cone. When I got to the bottom of the cone, it was empty....no ice cream!!!

My lawyer says I'll be collecting punative damages in the six figures. I still can't go by a supermarket dairy case without getting a sense of doom and chaos. Somehow, the money will make me feel all better.

P.S. That nice old couple that owned the shop has had to close up and sell. They also lost their house. Oh well, they should never have caused me disappointment in the first place.

[yote]

Excellent quote Tinman. People refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Seems like it always someone elses fault then they call someone else to take care of it.

[tv_racin_fan]

It's the whole "Someone else is responsible for my stupidity" syndrome we're stuck in.

Its really only about going after the guy with deep pockets. I blame lawyers for that one. If Mickey Dickey's was the corner sub shop they wouldn't have been sued.

Actually they would have. IF you go back and find the actual info in the actual court case they determined that that establishment was serving coffee at over 200 degrees I believe it was determined to be 204 but I can not recall that. McDonalds had covered damage claims before but for some reason they did not wish to pay for this one. THEY were well aware of the fact that their coffee was that hot. Now I believe they serve it below 180 BUT I am not 100% certain of that. The lady only wanted enough to cover her medical expenses AND the court decided she was partially at fault, this says 20%.

I complained about this way back then because after this case the coffee was cold at most places by the time I purchased it on the way to a job and then drank it when I got there. They either should serve it at what temp they wish and post a big ole warning that it is that hot or they should serve it at a reasonable temp. Now HOT as in 140 will burn but HOTTER say 195 to 210 will burn almost instantly. There is a difference in sticking your hand in boiling water and holding it there.

[Tinman507]

I don't dispute what you say as I have not read the entire case. I have dumped hot coffee in my lap in the truck and yeah, it hurts like hell. Fortunately never burnt myself bad enough for medical attention. Generally I chalk it up to my clumsiness and would NEVER consider suing the vendor. I guess that's where I part ways. Coffee is hot. I know that. They don't need to print a warning on the cup. If I lose my grip on it, I'm gonna get burnt. My Bad.

[tv_racin_fan]

Yeah but see that is the difference. I have spilt it on myself as awell and got MINOR burns. This gal did not get that sort of burn. THAT coffee was not that cool and that is why they should have paid her claim from the start because THEY KNEW the coffee was that sort of hot. In fact this article doesn't mention it BUT that is why they lost in court. It was their emails that got em because by their emails they KNEW the coffee was that sort of hot.

Someone metioned if they spill boiling water on themselves. Well you aint supposed to be trying to move boiling water and if you spill it on yourself because you din't wait for it to cool just a bit, well, THAT is your fault.

[Jeremiah/Az]

Common sense is a misnomer. Common sense is NOT common!

[Krusty]

COMMON SENSE IS NOT ALWAYS THAT COMMON.......

[Scoundrel]

I just read the entire Wikipedia summary coverage of the case (here's the link again) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck...;s_Restaurants partly because of this thread, and partly because one of my friends commented on it a few weeks back and I felt that maybe I should edumacate myself on it.

I recommend that everyone who scoffs about that lawsuit read the wikipedia article on it. You can get through it in 5 minutes if you're a reasonably fast reader, it's not full of legalese, and it is pretty informative.

For myself, I don't think I'll be scoffing about that lawsuit anymore, having read the facts of the case.

I do think that the final award was pretty dang high - but on the other hand, if I'd suffered through what she did, and the attitude from McD's and the effort/hassle of doing the court case, I might feel differently about that. McD's can afford it.

3/4 of the amount awarded was "punitive damages", awarded not because the little old lady deserved that much money from the incident, but because McD's conducted themselves like total ass-hats without remorse or intention to change their policies or behavior.

But anyway, please, before you reply to this thread about the coffee case, go read the article first.

[knkali]

Actually they would have. IF you go back and find the actual info in the actual court case they determined that that establishment was serving coffee at over 200 degrees I believe it was determined to be 204 but I can not recall that. McDonalds had covered damage claims before but for some reason they did not wish to pay for this one. THEY were well aware of the fact that their coffee was that hot. Now I believe they serve it below 180 BUT I am not 100% certain of that. The lady only wanted enough to cover her medical expenses AND the court decided she was partially at fault, this says 20%.

I complained about this way back then because after this case the coffee was cold at most places by the time I purchased it on the way to a job and then drank it when I got there. They either should serve it at what temp they wish and post a big ole warning that it is that hot or they should serve it at a reasonable temp. Now HOT as in 140 will burn but HOTTER say 195 to 210 will burn almost instantly. There is a difference in sticking your hand in boiling water and holding it there.

Yeah I tried to point it out how extraordinary hot the hot coffee was. But the bottom line is, now the courts are saying to us how hot coffee should be if you dont want to get sued. Everone lost on this. The customer, and the public. The public pays in the end for these settlements in passed on costs and now coffee will be generically even in temp no matter where you go to buy it. Maybe some people are sippers and like that coffee to stay more than warm for a long time. So they want their mud hot! They buy their coffee someplace where they might not like the coffee as much as another place, but it is much hotter. Now they dont have that option. More intrusion in lives for something that having the mind set of "coffee is frigg'n hot I better be careful or I can really hurt myself. Therefore I will treat this as if I were handling a weapon--carefully!" We get this notion easily--others may not.