It has been a while since I posted a decent rant—not that things haven’t entered my purview that didn’t deserve one, but I’m trying to mellow a bit in my autumn years. But today I couldn’t resist when I read the news item about Cathy Cruz Marrero. You may not be completely familiar with her name but I’d bet you have seen her spill.
She’s the texting-woman-falls-in-fountain lady.
Haven’t see it? The funniest part is the people laughing that caught it on their phone.
First, let’s call this for what it is/was: an accident. Was it stupid? Oh yeah. Did anybody make her look stupid? Not at all. She didn’t give anyone time to. She did what most of us would have done and climbed out immediately then hustled away, embarrased beyond words.
I put it to you—how many of us have laughed when people slip on ice and fall on their ass? I sure do! Why? Because it’s friggin’ hilarious! So do most people. I understand when a fall like that occurs that harm could be done, but it’s an accident. If all that gets injured is your pride then walk away feeling equally as lucky as you would stupid.
But she’s not satisfied with that. She’s considering suing the mall.
Ms. Marrero is upset because the video was posted on YouTube and went viral faster than a whore near the front lines. She’s upset because it made her look foolish.
Wrong. She made herself look foolish.
Don’t expect everyone to pick up the tab and compensate you for your stupidity. You didn’t watch where you were going; we’ve all done it. Anyone walking has done that. Most of us were lucky enough not to get caught.
Here’s another example: most of America has, at some point or other, watched America’s Funniest Home Videos. It’s funny as hell when someone jumps out and scares about eight years off someone’s life, funnier still if it’s a guy who screams like a little girl when it happens. Did any of them sue because they were made to look stupid? I’m sure they signed waivers to prevent it, but I’d also bet it caused some heavy friction between friends and such.
Remember the lady who sued McDonalds because she spilled piping hot coffee in her lap? What a moron. Sure, now she’s a well off moron, but I’d gladly call her a moron to her face if I saw her. That’s just idiotic, and hideously opportunistic. So is Ms. Marrero.
Here’s a bit of the story from Fox’s website:
“She acknowledges the video is funny, but says the security personnel heard laughing on the recording should have been more concerned about her well-being.”
“Because there was no railing to protect someone from falling into the fountain her lawsuit may have some merit, lawyers say. The mall could also be in hot water over the security personnel who laughed at her rather than checking if she was ok.”
*COUGH!* No railing? Seriously? No railing to prevent someone from falling in? Doesn’t that detract from the whole point of putting a nice looking fountain somewhere? Forget about any sort of self-accountability. Let’s blame our idiocy on someone else’s lack of foresight because they couldn’t foresee some knucklehead tripping over the side.
I will give her that much. Nobody ran out to simply ask if she was okay. If it was me, I still probably would have laughed and told her it was classic.
It incenses me that we are so litigious as to sue somebody else for something entirely of our own doing. At what point do we take accountability and say “My bad!” But to sue because she was laughed at?
And here’s another point I’m sure some a**hole will attempt to bring up—privacy. Anyone who tries to ring that bell is far more stupid than someone who does a face plant in a fountain.
In 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that “the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places,” thus holding the amendment applies not just in homes, but wherever a person has “a reasonable expectation of privacy.” That’s key. For instance, courts have ruled there is a decreased expectation of privacy in vehicles, or in the garbage bags placed upon the curb for sanitation pickup. Walking in an open mall certainly fails the test of “reasonable expectation of privacy,” don’t ya think?
Here’s something else a defense attorney might consider if she pursues a lawsuit—he may reequest discovery on the text messages, for that matter all communication on her phone from a few minutes before to perhaps hours afterward. Does she really want to be put under that microscope?
If suing on the grounds of stupidity is where we’re at, then I’m going all in, and I’m starting with two groups of idiots: those who text while driving (plenty of game there), and people who freaking rubberneck to look at something at the side of the road.
