It's NOT my fault!

--I see where the relatives of Aaron O'Neal, the Mizzou football player who passed away after practice earlier this summer, are planning to sue the university. (I don't know, but can the school be blamed for the kid having a heart defect, or whatever it was?)

--A group of parents is suing Belleville High School District 201 over it's new dress code policy. (Hmmmm...isn't that what school board elections are for?)

--A Missouri appeals court judge is suing the Missouri Bar Association and an Osage Beach bowling alley for injuries sustained when she fell at a Bar Association sponsored bowling tournament. (Judge sues Lawyers! That's a good one.)

After Barb and I saw a story the other night on the local TV news, the first thing she said was..."I'll bet somebody gets sued over that one". And, unfortunately, in our litigious society, somebody probably will get sued "over that one".

There is nothing anymore that isn't someone else's fault. Or better put, there is nothing anymore that can't be blamed on someone else (particularly if they have money or are a big company). There are plenty of willing lawyers looking for a payday. Lifting the restrictions on lawyers advertising their services on TV and radio was not a good idea.

There is nothing anymore that is just an accident, or an unfortunate turn of events, or bad luck. The sad part of all of the "let's take it out of somebody else's hide" mentality is that it has a snowball effect. As more of these lawsuits are filed, and gain notoriety, the more ordinary people think that they can win the "legal lottery" by blaming their misfortune, or stupidity, on someone else.

It used to be that if you fell off a ladder and broke your arm, you called an ambulance and went to the hospital to get your arm put in a cast. Now, we call our attorney and find out if we should take pictures of the ladder. After all, we aren't so careless or uncoordinated to fall off a ladder by accident. It had to be the fault of the company that made the ladder. Or maybe it was the fault of the place where we bought the ladder. Or the guy who invented the ladder. Or the guy who invented climbing. Or our mother and father for not giving us proper instructions on ladder climbing. Or maybe all of them. Let's sue them all!! Yeah...that's the ticket!! And, oh by the way, I now have a second elbow on that arm because I didn't go to the hospital to get my arm set. You know, I had to cover myself legally...and so, I'm going to have to get damages for my permanent disfigurement too! Does that sound ridiculous? I'll bet there's a lawyer somewhere who'd take it to court.

Come on...where do we get off this "sue happy" runaway train? Judges need to start telling these lawyers to go find a real job and the plaintiffs to be ashamed of themselves. But it seems, more often than not, judges are intent on dignifying these cockamamy claims.