Texting While Swimming

A few days ago a woman named Cathy Cruz Marrero, while walking through a mall and texting on her cell phone, failed to watch where she was going and fell into a fountain. Mall security cameras caught the unfortunate mishap and it somehow went viral within a few days. Ms. Marrero was apparently unhurt, judging by how quickly she jumped up, got out of the fountain and hurried away (no doubt trying to distance herself from her embarrassing incident as quickly as possible.)

I saw Ms. Marrero in a television interview on Thursday saying she was going to sue the security staff at the mall because rather than rush to her aid they laughed at her. While I understand that a concerned and compassionate security person would probably have done just that, the woman was only in the fountain for a few seconds before she got out, under her own power, and walked quickly out of the mall. I think you can actually see a couple of security personnel on the right side of the video laughing as she walked by. Cold blooded? Absolutely. An offense worth a lawsuit? I sincerely hope not.

Human compassion varies from person to person and from incident to incident. It would have been gentlemanly, and a good public relations move for mall security officers to rush to her aid. Let’s face it – it would have been the decent thing to do. But we’re talking about mall police here. Can you say Paul Bortz?

I feel badly for the woman (between giggles, that is) and feel for her embarrassment but I hope she doesn’t go through with the lawsuit. She probably would win just because she was embarrassed and a jury might feel sorry for her. But she is a mall employee who knows the fountain is there and she distracted herself by texting while she was walking. That is her own fault. Let’s go back to my post on January 11th, (Stupidity Runs Deep) about having to label every product in an attempt to keep people from hurting or killing themselves with it. Do we need to put labels on cell phones and warning signs in malls and other public places to alert people to the dangers of texting, lest they fall into a fountain, or worse? How about a big warning sign on the driver’s side visor in every new car to make sure people don’t text and drive? Lord knows if you text while driving and have an accident there must be some way to sue the car manufacturer, the phone company, and any passerby who doesn’t show the appropriate concern for your safety.

America becomes more crazy with each passing day. One day there will be a lawsuit filed by someone against their parents for bringing them into the world without their consent. And the scary thing is – they might just win.