Death of an old friend

gma2rjc · 09-28-2009, 08:09 AM

An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather true.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 step-brothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Scuba_Dave · 09-28-2009, 10:03 AM

Yes poor old common sense is gone RIP
The only one not to blame is the lawsuit
It was scalding coffee - way more then hot

McDonalds had kicked Common Sense out..........

Quote:

She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she
underwent skin grafting. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement
treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds
refused.

During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700
claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims
involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks. This
history documented McDonalds' knowledge about the extent and nature of
this hazard.

Common Sense would have said to settle for $20k, instead of hiring an engineer for $15k to defend your wrongful actions

Quote:

Next for the defense came P. Robert Knaff, a human-factors engineer who earned $15,000 in fees from the case and who, several jurors said later, didn't help McDonald's either. Dr. Knaff told the jury that hot-coffee burns were statistically insignificant when compared to the billion cups of coffee McDonald's sells annually

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

gma2rjc · 09-28-2009, 10:24 AM

Good post Dave. I had never read any of the facts about that case. Wouldn't you think McDonald's could have lowered the temp of their coffee after the first few complaints? How hard would that be?

Scuba_Dave · 09-28-2009, 10:29 AM

I think everybody was outraged at the way that lawsuit was portrayed by the press
I'd think McDonald's spin machine had something to do with that
I was surpised to find out that they had hundreds of issues that they resolved out of court
After the lawsuit testing revealed they had lowered the Temp, tested & it was ~158 at a local McD's after the verdict

I don't drink coffee, but I can't imagine trying to drink coffee at 180-190 degrees
That's about the same as hot pizza - & I know how that burns my mouth
Usually with Pizza we have the ride home where it cools off some

gma2rjc · 09-28-2009, 10:57 AM

It's too bad when a company gets so big that they stop caring about the very people that have made their business what it is.

micromind · 10-01-2009, 09:26 PM

The McDonalds coffee is nowhere near as hot as my blood that boils whenever rules and regulations are placed above common sense!

Rob

gma2rjc · 10-02-2009, 12:14 AM

Unfortunately, it's happening more and more all the time.

An example of that is the Michigan woman who received a letter from the State Daycare Licensing Division saying that she has to stop taking care of her neighbor's kids or she will be fined or face jail time.

I guess the government thinks the parents of those children aren't competent enough to choose who cares for their children.

It's lucky the government stepped in or that woman may have done something horrible, like give the kids a smile or a hug before putting them on the bus.

(sarcasm)

HomeBuddy · 10-09-2009, 12:31 AM

Sad but true! LOL!