The Death of Common Sense

I was watching tv the other night and saw a clip on Lou Dobbs (I don't really watch him, it was just on) and he started talking about a lawsuit that he would have thrown out if he had been a judge. I missed the guts of the piece, but I did hear mention of a pair of pants and 65 million dollars. I was flipping through the channels a few days later when I came upon the same story, only a different reporter. Here is the gist of what I caught:

A man took a several suits into a dry cleaners two years ago to get them cleaned in Washington D.C. The cleaners returned one of his suits without the pants. He went back and they couldn't find them. He demanded they pay for the complete suit, which cost $1,000. The cleaners found the pants several days later and tried to return them to him. He said they were not his pants (even though they were his same inseam and it looked like his receipt) and still demanded the $1000. The the couple that owned the dry cleaners refused to pay. This man then decided that he was going to sue them. He added up all of the so called "costs" (including emotional damages (which, hey, I have a few items in my closet that I would be sad about if they got lost, I will admit... but not enough to sue) and payment for a rental car every week for the next ten years so that he can drive to a different dry cleaners). With all of this, and some other damages, he is suing them for 65 million dollars.

The best part (I am being sarcastic when I say best) about this, other than the fact that he has completely ruined these people, who had come from South Korea for a better life and are now seriously considering returning because they are running out of money due to legal costs, is that... da dada da... the guy is a JUDGE and is representing himself. The fact that the legal system has allowed this to continue for two years is beyond me. The couple have offered to settle (with settlements below $10,000, which seems fair to me), but that is not good enough for him. What a waste and a shame on his part. I had to laugh because there was a man who made comments about this case and he was the author of a book called "The Death of Common Sense." Isn't that the case? There are legitimate reasons to sue someone. I have known several people who have sued and for good reason, but over a pair of pants? It is pathetic that this is something that is acceptable in our society. The next thing you know, people will be suing themselves for cutting their own toenails too short ("You owe me buddy, I was bleeding! Give me 25 million dollars, stat!). It's ridiculous. I just wish that people could get along and use common sense instead of greed to get them through life. If I put a cup of a hot coffee between my legs and it spills and burns me, I shouldn't be able to sue McDonald's for my stupidity. If you want cold coffee, order it cold. I don't drink coffee, but most people that do complain if it is cold... therefore, use your brain and don't do things that can get you hurt. This is why there are warning labels on everything. Why can't people take responsibility for themselves? If something is harmful and a company knows about it and then does nothing, or there is something that one would never think about as being harmful and then someone gets hurt THEN I can understand it. But if you do something brilliant like zip yourself up in your suitcase and then flip out when the zipper gets stuck and, once you get out, start eating 100 Twinkies a day to deal with the post traumatic stress you have, you shouldn't be able to sue Samsonite for making you fat. It's just common sense, use it. Sorry about the rant, it's just crazy. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go sue Hewlett Packard for my carpal tunnel.