Sue happy

I've written a lot about the disrespectful state of our country and the mindset of "it's all about me" that is so predominant. This morning as I was reading the news headlines, I found yet another example. This one is even more disturbing, because I feel it abuses the efforts this country has made to provide equality for the handicapped.

If you've ever been to the Disney parks, I'm sure you've been on the  "It's a small world" ride. Unless you're a young child, you were more than likely ready to strangle someone by the end as the song played over and over and OVER! Most adults are understandably eager to exit the ride as soon as possible. Unfortunately at Disneyland it broke down recently. Everyone was asked to exit.

There was a handicapped gentleman that had to wait on his wheelchair. The staff went to retrieve it, but did not get to him quickly enough in his opinion. From the time the ride broke down, the staff evaluated the situation, the determination made to evacuate everyone, the evacuation process occurred, and retrieved the wheelchair, 30 minutes transpired. He suffers from an anxiety disorder which was compounded by the fact that he had to urinate. He chose to sue Disney for for their negligence and his mental anguish of having to listen to the song with a full bladder.

Sound absurd to you or reasonable injustice? A jury found it reasonable injustice and awarded him $8000 in damages. I don't know who to be more angry with - the gentleman (a stretch to call him that) suing, the lawyer arguing the case, the judge for not throwing it out, or the jury for awarding him anything more than the price of his admission ticket. These are exactly the kinds of cases that make a victim out of any situation.

And as I said originally, that it is coming from a person that is handicapped is so frustrating. The Disney organization has done a tremendous job in making every accommodation for handicapped individuals. The fact that the ride is even available to the  handicapped is a credit to their commitment to serve all citizens. As a result of this suit, they were also found to be in violation of the standard height of a counter for handicapped people at the first aid station. It has already been fixed.

I realize that there were a lot of court cases that had to go through to require businesses to provide for handicapped citizens. As a business owner, I can attest to the difficulty and expense that it takes to accommodate the handicapped. But these types of cases only give a bad name to a group of people that have had to claw and scratch their way to equality. 

I hope he enjoys his $8000. It surely came at the expense of future patrons of Disney that will have to pay for it through increased prices that are already over inflated. But wait, we can't attribute it just to him. There have been countless others that have sued them and settlements made. At this point, I wouldn't blame any business for closing their doors. But thank goodness the magic kingdom has deep pockets (thanks to us parents that fulfill our children's dreams at any cost) to absorb the blows.