>> Sorry Jack but I have to speak up about the McD's comment especially since I see it referenced frequently in discussions about excessive litigation. >> <Big snip> This story reminds me of the one that Reagan used to tell about the driver who sued the manufacturer of his vehicle -- and won -- because a horse fell through the roof. This was supposed to be an example of ridiculous litigation. However, the suit was not about the horse but about the roof of the vehicle, which was supposed to be strong enough to survive a rollover, let alone a falling horse. Sometimes ridiculous stories look a lot less ridiculous when all the facts are known. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Sometimes ridiculous stories look a lot less ridiculous when all the facts are known. ---------- Next time you're in a hardware store, take a look at all the warning labels on a wooded step ladder. There must be 20 of them. I forget what it's called, but you know the little bitty platform that pulls out for you to put your paint can on? Some guy sued the ladder company and won when he stepped out on that platform, put his full weight on it, fell and broke something. I like that saying "You can't legislate stupidity". You can't measure it either but I sure know it when I see it. There is not enough common sense in our legal systems nor in our everyday lives. People need to take more responsibility for their own actions. Stepping off of soap box now... Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
At 02:27 PM 3/4/99 -0500, Sisler, Clyde wrote: >Sometimes ridiculous stories look a lot less ridiculous when all the >facts are known. >---------- > >Next time you're in a hardware store, take a look at all the warning labels >on a wooded step ladder. There must be 20 of them. > >I forget what it's called, but you know the little bitty platform that pulls >out for you to put your paint can on? Some guy sued the ladder company and >won when he stepped out on that platform, put his full weight on it, fell >and broke something. > >I like that saying "You can't legislate stupidity". You can't measure it >either but I sure know it when I see it. > >There is not enough common sense in our legal systems nor in our everyday >lives. People need to take more responsibility for their own actions. > >Stepping off of soap box now... > > >Chuck Holst > > Chuck don't forget natural selection will weed out a lot of these people like it or not and they will become a statistic and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Dana *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
From: "Sisler, Clyde" <Clyde.Sisler_at_wang.com> To: "'Paddlewise'" <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net> Subject: RE: [Paddlewise] FW: Costco selling kayaks/ Date sent: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 14:27:26 -0500 > There is not enough common sense in our legal systems nor in our everyday > lives. People need to take more responsibility for their own actions. > > Stepping off of soap box now... > <Carefully>, I hope, Chuck? Jack *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
clyde.sisler_at_wang.com wrote: > > Sometimes ridiculous stories look a lot less ridiculous when all the > facts are known. > ---------- > > Next time you're in a hardware store, take a look at all the warning labels > on a wooded step ladder. There must be 20 of them. > > I forget what it's called, but you know the little bitty platform that pulls > out for you to put your paint can on? Some guy sued the ladder company and > won when he stepped out on that platform, put his full weight on it, fell > and broke something. > > I like that saying "You can't legislate stupidity". You can't measure it > either but I sure know it when I see it. > > There is not enough common sense in our legal systems nor in our everyday > lives. People need to take more responsibility for their own actions. At the same time the manufacturers need to take responsibility when they do mess up. And they need to be prosecuted when their actions are criminal. Right now the only real recourse is the civil action for money damages. The AMA complains about medical malpractice suits but their own studies show that less than 1 in 5 cases of ACTUAL MALPRACTICE is ever litigated or even investigated. At the same time they know that less than 5% of doctors produce more than 90% of malpractice cases. Why not get rid of the BAD DOCTORS? How about the Ford Molitov Pinto? Some of the Ford executives should have gone to jail for that one. They KNEW that the design was DANGEROUS (not just unsafe) and they decided that it would be cheaper to just pay off claims than to fix the gas tank design. That sounds a lot like manslaughter to me, at the very least. In some states and cases it would likely be murder. It is not just the little guy who should accept responsibility, it is everyone who IS responsible. michael *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
I have been reading this thread and not thinking I guess. We bought our first Yaks (Keowee's) from the LLBean folks and had no training and virtually no experience (I'd been out once with someone who also had no training). And if there were disclaimers with the boats, they were totally and immediately ignored. My wife would suggest it's some testosterone based bias against following directions or reading the fine print. I probably wouldn't disagree. First trip down the Susquehanna (which in Oneonta, NY is about 50 yards wide and 4 feet deep) and I rounded a bend only to come upon the root end of a tree that had been washed into the river. I ended up against the roots, downside up. I popped out and forced my way upright on my feet. I then had to pry the sunken boat out of the roots, against the current, while my son retrieved the paddle from downstream. He had been smart enough to give the tree a wide berth. I was lucky not to have been caught under the tree and I got so much smarter in such a short time that I couldn't believe it. Common sense would have told me to steer clear but I somehow thought the boat only draws about an inch of water, how dangerous can it be? Almost natural selection at work. And it had nothing to do with any instructions the Bean folks did or didn't put in the little plastic envelope. I was just stupid. You can't legislate against that kind of behavior. Larry Mills Warmer and dryer than before. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
>Chuck don't forget natural selection will weed out a lot of these people >like it or not and they will become a statistic and there is nothing anyone >can do about it. > >Dana I agree. We're meddling far too much with Darwinism. Warnings on stepladders, warnings(and those ridiculous blade clutches)on lawnmowers to keep your hands away.... Last summer I purchased a bag of ice that had large block letters-STORE IN FREEZER. Dennis *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Thanks for your message. Now I understand what happened to that ice I bought last July. I've just gotta start reading those directions. Larry Mills Department of Redundancy Department *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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