A Nation of Whiners or I'm Stupid and it's Your Fault!

Everyone’s heard the recent comment from former Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) that “we sort of become a nation of whiners.” Of course the press had a field day with this comment forcing poor ole Phil to do a two-step and clarify that he was referring to our leaders and not the general public. Yet I think Phil was half-correct. We have become a nation of whiners but not about the economy. Actually, we have become a nation of stupid whiners and the proof is in the pudding--or at least in the warning label on the pudding container.

That’s right. I think warning labels are a good reflection of Big Business’s concept of the consuming public’s intelligence. Here’s a few examples:

What a unique concept--food very hot after cooking it?

Do dogs drive? Well after they saw that commercial where the dog got the beer bottle out of the fridge and opened it...

What can I say!?

Cause it's human instinct to grab the moving sharp end.

Do not use for personal hygiene? But those bubbles feel soooo good!

Want to see more? Simply google "stupid warning labels" and you will find pages and pages of this stuff. Does Big Business really think we are that dumb? I don't think Big Business cares if we are dumb or not. In fact, I don't believe they think we are dumb at all. I think they are simply protecting their asses...er um assets.

So then why have we become a nation of people who need to be warned that food is hot after you cook it? or that products designed to clean your toilet should not be used to clean your body? What happened to common sense and accountability? I'll tell you what happened. It was drowned in the muck and mire of a legal system chock full of frivolous lawsuits by greedy lawyers and half-witted "victims" looking to make a buck from their own stupidity.

Case in point. Everyone has heard of the McDonald's coffee lawsuit. Stella Liebeck sued McDonald's because she spilled their coffee all over her lap and wound up in the hospital with 3rd degree burns. Now McDonald's wasn't completely blameless because the coffee was way too hot but Stella made the decision to put a hot cup of coffee between her legs. It wasn't like the McDonald's employee screamed, "here's your coffee, you stupid beotch!" and then threw it in her face. (That happened the first time she went to McDonald's for coffee after the lawsuit.)

Here's another. A lady from Madison County sued Mazda for 150k for not providing instructions on the use of seatbelts. She had been passenger in a Mazda and suffered severe injuries when the Mazda got wrecked. She wasn't wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. Of course, we all know how confusing those new-fangled seatbelts can be...

These are just two examples of the plethora of frivolous lawsuits since the early 80's. (Yes, Betty, I said "plethora") I believe that for every action there is a reaction and the silly warning labels are a direct reaction to the silly lawsuits. These lawsuits may sound silly, but they cost Big Business big bucks. And in the long run, the cost is passed on to the consumer.

So the next time you read the warning label on your hairdryer and it says, "Do not use while sleeping", don't think that some idiot put that there for fun. It probably was a reaction to a lawsuit by some Gerry-Springer-Guest-Wannabe who left the dryer blowing on her head while she took a nap, burned off all her hair, and sued the manufacturer for 32 million dollars because her hair never grew back the right color and she couldn't sell her trailer because nobody wanted to move into it with that "burnt hair" smell. Well you never, know. It could happen...

For more stupid lawsuits, check out legalzoom.