Friday, 22 February 2008

A couple of things

I was sent the following by Jeanie:

London Times Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.


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 his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.'

And this link to a new site called ParamedicTV.com, giving an example of the type of videos that are uploaded with EMS relevance. There's some funny stuff here.

http://paramedictv.ems1.com/Clip.aspx?key=4295752605E387AB

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3 comments:

Catherine said...

how sad....how true

Anonymous said...

Actually, the famous McDonalds coffee case is a myth. The woman certainly knew that the coffee was hot; what she failed to realise was that it was maintained at over 200F, a temperature at which it was "not fit for consuption" due to being too hot, as McDonalds admitted. She sustained third-degree burns over 16% of her body, spent eight days in hospital having skin grafts and required two years' treatment thereafter, and is now permanently scarred. She also tried to settle with McDonalds for the cost of her medical treatment, but they refused. Also, the original award (which she never received) incorporates punitive damages, which we don't have in the UK. But who cares about a person's right not to be scalded so badly they need skin grafts for absolutely no reason?

Acolyte said...

Funny how a lot of people mistake knowing their rights for being common sense.

Great post and great blog :)

Cheers,
katie