Author Topic: Common Sense  (Read 311 times)

Offline Mark Luper

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1626
Common Sense
« on: October 30, 2002, 09:45:38 AM »
Sent to me by a remarkable woman, my mother-in-law...



"I am sorry to have to report the home going of Common Sense.  

Obituary
 Notice Today we mourn the passing of an old friend, Common Sense. Common
Sense lived a long life but died in the United States from heart failure on
the brink of the new millennium. No one really knows how old he was, since
his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.  He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, and factories helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness.

For decades, petty rules, silly laws, and frivolous lawsuits held no power
over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as
to know when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm,
and that life isn't always fair.

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the
Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived trends including body
piercing, whole language, and "new math."  In recent decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of well intentioned but overbearing regulations.  His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero-tolerance policies.

Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a
classmate, a teen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and
a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his
condition. It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent
to administer aspirin to a student but could not inform the parent when a
female student was pregnant or wanted an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became
contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment
than victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from the
Boy Scouts to professional sports.

Finally, when a woman, too stupid to realize that a steaming cup of coffee
was hot, was awarded a huge settlement, Common Sense threw in the towel.

As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of logic but was kept
informed of developments regarding questionable regulations such as those
for low flow toilets, rocking chairs, and stepladders.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his
wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is
survived by two stepbrothers: My Rights, and MY Entitlement"



Now, aint that the truth!
MarkAT

Keep the shiny side up!

Offline Skuzzy

  • Support Member
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 31462
      • HiTech Creations Home Page
Common Sense
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2002, 09:53:27 AM »
Nice read Mark.  All too true, unfortunately.
Roy "Skuzzy" Neese
support@hitechcreations.com

Offline -sudz-

  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 609
Common Sense
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2002, 11:47:19 AM »
Good one, Mark :)

Just a note, though.  I used to be one of those who thought the woman suing for having spilt hot coffee at McDee's was the epitome of profiting for being irresponsible.  I found out later the coffee was so hot she had to be put in intensive care and had to have skin graphs put on her thighs.  She probably wouldn't have sued if she just messed up and was put out by having to change clothes.  

I gotta say, if some restaurant came that close to my nuts with a 3rd degree burning in mind, and all it took was me clipping the steering wheel as I transferred the cup from the window to the console, I'd sue too.  Not to get just a warning printed on the lid but to get them not to endanger my priceless package.

But other than that, excellent sentiments all round :)

-sudz

Offline Arfann

  • Parolee
  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 609
Common Sense
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2002, 01:21:47 PM »
If I want sociopolitical commentary I'll ck the O club, which is where this post should be.

Offline Mark Luper

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1626
Common Sense
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2002, 02:35:12 PM »
You must be the new BBS Police Arfann :)
MarkAT

Keep the shiny side up!

Offline udet

  • Parolee
  • Gold Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2242
      • http://www.angelfire.com/nd/mihaipruna/dogfight.html
Common Sense
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2002, 02:40:37 PM »
I think lack of common sense is what generates technological progress.

Offline Maverick

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 13958
Common Sense
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2002, 03:14:17 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by -sudz-
Good one, Mark :)

Just a note, though.  I used to be one of those who thought the woman suing for having spilt hot coffee at McDee's was the epitome of profiting for being irresponsible.  I found out later the coffee was so hot she had to be put in intensive care and had to have skin graphs put on her thighs.  She probably wouldn't have sued if she just messed up and was put out by having to change clothes.  

I gotta say, if some restaurant came that close to my nuts with a 3rd degree burning in mind, and all it took was me clipping the steering wheel as I transferred the cup from the window to the console, I'd sue too.  Not to get just a warning printed on the lid but to get them not to endanger my priceless package.

But other than that, excellent sentiments all round :)

-sudz


So it's the restaraunts fault that the woman put the cup between her legs and sqeezed? No matter whether the liquid is hot, cold or tepid it doesn't belong in your crotch for crying out loud. When you knowingly buy HOT coffee you shouldn't be surprised that it is in fact hot.
DEFINITION OF A VETERAN
A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Author Unknown

Offline jonnyb

  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 593
Common Sense
« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2002, 03:40:50 PM »
We live in a society where common sense took a back seat long ago to "instant gratification".  I want it all, and I want it now.

1) Woman sues McDonald's because she was stupid.  Regardless of whether or not the coffee was hot, she was the one that clipped the steering wheel with it.  Her inability to properly transfer a steaming hot liquid to a cup holder leads to a multi-million dollar lawsuit.  Can you say exaggeration and dramatization?

2) Suits of tobacco companies because people decided to start smoking.  Woman files suit against major tobacco producers because she smoked her entire life and now that she's dying of lung cancer, it is the tobacco companies' fault.  Wake up.  They didn't force that cigarette into your mouth.  What clued you in to the fact that it *might* not be good for you?  Perhaps it should have been the coughing fit you went into the first drag you took.

3) Man sues fast food chain blaming his obesity on them because they never informed him that the food was fattening.  How about you get your fat bellybutton off the couch and drag it to the gym?  How has it become the fault of fast food chains that you order 3 loaded bacon double cheeseburgers, super-sized fries and a gallon of Coca-Cola?

4) Criminal breaks into a home and cuts himself on a knife in the kitchen.  This same knife was to be used to pry open a safety chest and cut paintings from a frame.  The man has to be taken to the hospital for his injuries.  He sues the homeowners' insurance and wins.

Fact: of all the lawyers in the world, 93% of them are in the US.

Quit your alligator-teared, I-was-abused-as-a-child, it's-everybody's-fault-but-mine squeaking and grow the fu*k up.

Offline Oldman731

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 9495
Common Sense
« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2002, 03:45:19 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by jonnyb
Fact: of all the lawyers in the world, 93% of them are in the US.

So your point is....this is what makes America great?

- oldman

Offline Shiva

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 966
      • http://members.cox.net/srmalloy/
Common Sense
« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2002, 03:48:17 PM »
Quote
Just a note, though. I used to be one of those who thought the woman suing for having spilt hot coffee at McDee's was the epitome of profiting for being irresponsible. I found out later the coffee was so hot she had to be put in intensive care and had to have skin graphs put on her thighs. She probably wouldn't have sued if she just messed up and was put out by having to change clothes.

I gotta say, if some restaurant came that close to my nuts with a 3rd degree burning in mind, and all it took was me clipping the steering wheel as I transferred the cup from the window to the console, I'd sue too. Not to get just a warning printed on the lid but to get them not to endanger my priceless package.


As I recall, the suit centered around the fact that McDonald's kept its coffee at a temperature of about 180°F, well above the temperature that, say, a home coffee pot would maintain it at, not what the woman did.

On the other hand, what caused her injuries was that she stuck the coffee cup between her legs and pried the lid off. Now, the bottom of a styrofoam cup has considerable resistance to deformation, but  the top has far less without a lid keeping it round; if you are holding a lidded styrofoam cup between your legs, and it's full of liquid, you can expect that, when you take the lid off, the loss of rigidity from the removal of the lid, combined with the inward pressure from your legs, is going to eject the liquid from the cup.

The verdict handed down by the court wasn't that the woman wasn't an idiot for taking the lid off and splashing herself with coffee, but that McDonalds was liable because it routinely served its coffee hot enough to cause second-degree burns, and had an ongoing record of people being burned by its coffee.

Offline Dead Man Flying

  • Platinum Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 6301
Re: Common Sense
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2002, 03:51:16 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Mark Luper
For decades, petty rules, silly laws, and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life isn't always fair.


For decades?

Alexis de Tocqueville noted that America was an extremely litigious society... back in the 1810s.  If common sense has left us, it did so centuries, not decades, ago.

-- Todd/Leviathn

Offline jonnyb

  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 593
Common Sense
« Reply #11 on: October 30, 2002, 03:58:54 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Oldman731

So your point is....this is what makes America great?

- oldman


Absolutely not.  It constitutes a large portion of the problem.  I figure if we export one lawyer for every Toyata we import, in about 4 years things should be just about even.

Offline Arfann

  • Parolee
  • Nickel Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 609
Common Sense
« Reply #12 on: October 30, 2002, 04:30:09 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Mark Luper
You must be the new BBS Police Arfann :)


Yep, and yer under arrest. Lock yerself in the lav until we come for you with the cuffs. Resistance is futile. Respeck maw authoritay!!!


































and this still should be in the O club. :p

Offline Sandman

  • Plutonium Member
  • *******
  • Posts: 17620
Common Sense
« Reply #13 on: October 31, 2002, 01:26:18 AM »
Oh... nostalgia...

I hate nostalgia. It's seldom accurate and chock full of generalizations.
sand

Offline Mark Luper

  • Silver Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1626
Common Sense
« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2002, 04:56:26 AM »
Actually I would have to agree with Arfann in that this should be a post normaly put in the O Club, however, after reading a lot of  the posts and replys in this section it dawned on me a lot of them just don't seem to use a lot of "Common Sense". I was hoping I could persuade some to use more of it :).

DMF I just posted what she sent to me, unabridged, you're right though, it has been more than "decades".
MarkAT

Keep the shiny side up!