hot coffee

    i just finished viewing the documentary hot coffee.  the title story is about an elderly woman who accidentally spilled scalding hot coffee on her lap that she had just bought from mcdonalds. she sued mcdonald's and became the butt of many jokes. unfortunately what had happened to her was no joke. she had severe burns and was burnt so badly that she even needed skin grafts. apparently the temperature of the coffee was 180 degrees.  she was one of 700 who had been burned from mcdonald's hot coffee. she sued mcdonald's so this would not happen to anyone else.
     as a result of belittling the validity of the hot coffee lawsuit as well as other lawsuits like it has caused politicians to push for tort reform which means caps for how much someone can win from a lawsuit. it also wants to limit lawsuits due to damage to a consumer. sounds great unless this happens to you. then you are screwed.
     until i viewed this documentary i never thought much about lawsuits and why people file them.  after seeing this documentary i realized that even though people may file lawsuits that may not make sense to others perhaps we don't really know the whole story and we should realize just that. when i found out what really happened to stella liebeck i realized how much the media skews our thoughts.  
things are not always as they seem.  i also realized that  there is a reason for trial by jury and that is what makes our country a good one. thanks to hot coffee i know a whole lot more about the american legal system.