Sue-society

5-25-11




Dammit world, stop suing people.



As much as I feel for the family of the guy who was beaten within an inch of his life (and that inch looks like it will not hold), do you really need to sue the Dodgers organization? What the fuck? I know you were in the parking lot, but just because some asshole Dodger fan kicks the shit out of your family member, do you really think the Dodgers are responsible for this? I don’t care if their security was less than what you had hoped for. In a crowd that size, things may happen. You take that chance when you go to a rival field in the opposing attire. I am not saying it is right that you got your ass beat. I think that is horrid and I am glad that the Dodgers take it seriously, but dammit folks, you can’t sue them. You just can’t. Sue the asshole who did this to you. But not the organization doing all they can to help find the guy who did this.



On this note, I am also mad at this story I saw on the news a couple nights ago. I actually was screaming at my computer, Ken trying to calm me down. I was so angry, I couldn’t even make sense.



This woman had a baby. Unfortunately, the baby passed away after 17 days. He was premature.



She had indicated to the hospital that she did not want photos of her son after he had passed. It seems that there was some mixup, and the bereavement department ended up taking 150 pictures of her son. The photos were then sent to her, which sounds to me like the standard practice.



She was upset, and in shock, because she did not want the post mortem pictures of her son. I understand being upset, but is this reason to sue?



And then we get beyond even that. I watched an interview with her and her attorney on Dr Drew’s show. He was so fucking hateable. He kept going on and on about how it was sick, them taking pictures and that who knows who is doing what with the photos since they were developed at Wallgreens. He talked about some guy in the town that recently was convicted of some necrophilia. Dr Drew asks him if he thinks that this would take place with these pictures, and he says, wait for it, no. This man is first off, upsetting the mom even more with these suggestions, and then just so full of hype and bullshit I wanted to hunt him down and kick him in the face. He went on and on, making this out to be a bigger crime than just a clerical error.



The lawyer went on to say how there is a market for these kind of photos. He is such an idiot. The only market is for 100 year old pictures, which was how families dealt with death. It was common place then to take photos of a deceased child, and even grownups, in full clothing and even posed to look like they might either be alive or just sleeping. It was the time, and those prints can be worth money. However, the only market for current photos would be in the idea that many photographers are getting into this business since many parents want these photos of their baby. A lot of times they just want a peaceful picture of the baby without all the wires and monitors they are often hooked up to before they pass. I can completely understand this. I can also understand not wanting them. Either way, this fucktard of a lawyer is taking advantage of a grieving woman, and wasting time and money on a lawsuit.



I spend every day as a parent teaching my kids to be grateful. I teach them to also thank people for their generosity and I teach them to apologize when they make a mistake. I don’t teach them to give someone money with the apology. I don’t teach them that every good thing they do results in a treat. Somewhere along the way, we as a society have forgotten the very things we were taught. We make mistakes. We are human. Yes, sometimes mistakes result in someone getting hurt. Does a huge cash settlement make it better? And if it does, what does that say about the person who was hurt?



When I was 16, my appendix ruptured. This happened after multiple misdiagnosis’s of my condition. I could have died. Did my parents sue the doctor or hospital? Nope. Should they have? Nope! They did good. They were just grateful that I was alive. They recognized that yes, they missed my appendix having issues. But they knew the doctors did they best they could at the time. They also are human. They make mistakes.



Do I think that people should be held responsible for mistakes? Yes, I do. But I don’t think the lawsuit is the appropriate solution. It has been misused and over done and now, it is just a joke. People sue for millions of dollars over a hang nail. It isn’t right.



Plus, how do we put a price tag on lawsuits. In the case of the Dodgers suit, I don’t know how much they are asking for. Perhaps you would ask for medical costs, and maybe some lost wages while you cared for your family member. But then there is that whole pain and suffering thing. What is the going rate for that? In the instance of the mom, she was probably already miserable, what with the loss of her son. So what’s to say her anguish was not mostly from that and the pictures were simply just one of those millions of reminders like the crib already set up or someone offering you condolences?



I may sound heartless, and I know I am not making as much sense as I want to. That being said, I just feel like we are abusing a system that was put in place to help people. Instead, we use it to make a quick buck, all the while blaming instead of healing.



I just hope that some day we figure this out.