Greg, while I tend to agree with the substance of your argument - that people would no doubt lose their collective minds if an airliner actually did this with paying passengers aboard - I take strong issue with your comments about "spilling coffee in your crotch" in a direct reference to the McDonalds case of Stella Liebeck.
I'm not going to post any pictures of the horrific injuries suffered by Mrs. Liebeck because they are far too gruesome to share on this board, especially considering the area which was effectively destroyed by the nearly boiling coffee, but here is a written description of the incident. I hope you take the time to read it and understand that this was not a crass money grab on the part of some lazy schmuck, as is so often portrayed - this woman was grievously injured, and even with that, initially sought only enough to cover her medical expenses which McDonalds flatly rejected.
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Link to full description: http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm
Text extract:
Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was in the passenger seat of her grandson's car when she was severely burned by McDonalds' coffee in February 1992. Liebeck, 79 at the time, ordered coffee that was served in a styrofoam cup at the drivethrough window of a local McDonalds.
After receiving the order, the grandson pulled his car forward and stopped momentarily so that Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her coffee. (Critics of civil justice, who have pounced on this case, often charge that Liebeck was driving the car or that the vehicle was in motion when she spilled the coffee; neither is true.) Liebeck placed the cup between her knees and attempted to remove the plastic lid from the cup. As she removed the lid, the entire contents of the cup spilled into her lap.
The sweatpants Liebeck was wearing absorbed the coffee and held it next to her skin. A vascular surgeon determined that Liebeck suffered full thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she underwent skin grafting. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonalds refused.
During discovery, McDonalds produced documents showing more than 700 claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebecks. This history documented McDonalds' knowledge about the extent and nature of this hazard.
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So again, not disagreeing with your basic point - people will often sue over the dumbest s#|t as we all know - but the "Coffee Crotch" case was absolutely and fully justified. What that poor woman went through, first with the injuries and then having her name dragged through the mud the rest of her life as though she were some kind of money-grabbing grifter is just terribly sad.
Lynn
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