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How would you react? (2 Viewers)

upNdown said:
Oh let’s not joke. I lean to the left for sure. But I do not drive around flipping the bird to restaurants that have offended me.
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Forget my Polynesian sauce and i’ll do worst then flip them the finger.
upNdown said:
Nor do I mail boxes of sex toys to politicians who displease me.
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This actually never even occurred to me.
 
AlbinoDragon said:
God forbid I ever wind up on a civil jury for a case like this as I'd likely get thrown out in contempt for letting the court, the audience and the rest of jury know exactly what I think about random bullshit like this.
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Think twice about that. Being on a civil jury case was one of the most rewarding days of my adult life.

This was back in the mid-late 1990s. Snowflakes were beautiful ice crystals that fell from the sky, not an insult. Money went about 70% further back then. I was not a firefighter back then and was much younger. PTSD was something only war veterans could suffer from. My views on life and lawyers were not influenced by personal history, and could only base conclusions on what was presented to me. In short, I was a perfect juror.

The case was about someone who got injured in a motor vehicle accident. Plaintiff stopped at the light, defendant stopped, slowly rolled into into the plaintiff's car as he retrieved something off his car's floor. No damage to the plaintiff's car, but the plaintiff went to the hospital. The patient was seen and released without treatment. The insurance company tried to settle for $30,000. The Plaintiff wanted $100,000 for the "pain and suffering", because he could never know if the next car behind him would stop or not. There were no injuries.

After hearing the case we adjourned. Our directions were to determine if the Plaintiff should get paid, and how much. We could select no award, $30,000 (the amount the insurance was willing to pay and we could have gone home early), $100,000 (the plaintiff's ask) or any other amount we the jury determined.

Opening discussions were pretty clear. Everyone determined that the defendant was totally at fault. Pay attention when you drive, even when you are "stopped". This was before smartphones were evil distractions, so that did not play into anyone's thought process. The guy just over-reached in a time when a great many drivers didn't even use seat belts, and front seats in a car were often large padded benches.

"OK, what should we award the plaintiff" the foreman asked. I don't think he was officially a foremen, but he kinda was the one that seemed to know what was going on so he took lead.

The discussion started at $100,000, but fairly quickly was determined that $100,000 was bullshit for a non-injury, where his car didn't even need to be buffed.

"So, $30,000? He hired a lawyer, and will get less than he would have if he settled?" the foreman asked before putting it to an official vote. The group appeared uneasy about awarding even this much, but did not want to give the defendant a free pass. It was a shit job where no matter what we chose, we somehow lost.

"How about $20?" I asked.
"Twenty... dollars" the foreman clarified.
"It was the amount out of his pocket for the deductible." I said, pointing at the bill the defendant provided to prove he had gone to the E.R. "Maybe he thought he was hurt" (remember I was much younger and did not understand the angles people play). "He shouldn't be out any money because of the other driver's error."

The room immediately was energized.
"What about his lawyer's fees", someone else on the jury asked.
"That was on him," another juror replied. He could have taken the 30 grand.

The jury returned to the court, and the judge read the verdict. If he loved it or hated it, his face gave no clue. I don't know about the Judge's game they played in Rounders, this judge knew how to keep a poker-face. He individually polled each juror to make sure we all said "yes" to the verdict, then banged the gavel of justice.

I have never been so proud to do my civic duty. People who dodge jury duty should not complain about the legal system. It works when the jury actually thinks and follows the rules.
 
No real update on this, except the guy just posted that his kid started his first day of school at the local public school. When somebody questioned why his kid wasn’t still at the private school, he said that since the mascot assaulted his kid on campus and since the school took the team’s side, he pulled him out of the school.
 
upNdown said:
No real update on this, except the guy just posted that his kid started his first day of school at the local public school. When somebody questioned why his kid wasn’t still at the private school, he said that since the mascot assaulted his kid on campus and since the school took the team’s side, he pulled him out of the school.
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Or they kicked him out because of his dad.
 
upNdown said:
No real update on this, except the guy just posted that his kid started his first day of school at the local public school. When somebody questioned why his kid wasn’t still at the private school, he said that since the mascot assaulted his kid on campus and since the school took the team’s side, he pulled him out of the school.
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This kid is in for a tough life. Random bullshit is going to happen to him every few months because his dad's ego comes first.
 

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