One last post and then I'm out of here for a couple of days for the holidays. (Please keep the cheering down to a dull roar. There. That's better).
Just to get you in the Christmas spirit, I'll leave you with this one last priceless nugget.
Heard about the 60-year-old who's suing the 8-year-old?
Yes, you heard right. According to the Associated press, 60-year-old David Phaler of Allentown, Pa., got knocked down by then 7-year-old Scott Swimm while on the ski slopes at Vail last January. Phaler is now seeking $75,000 in damages for "therapy, vacation time, nursing and medical services provided by his wife," according to the AP, after suffering a torn shoulder tendon.
Some questions surface almost immediately here:
1. The kid, according to his mom, weighed all of 48 pounds at the time and was going about 10 mph, which sounds reasonable. Phaler characterized him as recklessly bombing down the hill like Jean-Claude Killy, which sounds preposterous. So if a 48-pound kid wobbling down the hill is all it takes to send this guy tumbling, what the heck was he doing on a ski slope in Vail?
2. If Phaler was receiving "nursing and medical services provided by his wife," how'd he go $75,000 in the hole?
3. And in any case, if he makes the kind of jack that enables him to vacation in Vail, what about his health insurance? You're telling me he had none? You're telling me it didn't pay for any of the medical expenses he claims to have incurred?
Sorry, but this smells like Scam City to me. It also just smells, considering it's a grownup beating up on a kid for something that happens every day on ski slopes all over America.
"Who in the world sues a child?" Swimm's mom wondered.
Not Santa Claus, that's for sure.
And with that, Merry Christmas to those of you who observe. And to those who don't, peace on Earth, good will toward men and don't be a jackass.
Which means no suing 8 year olds.
-- Ben Smith
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