I really should take better care of my head than I do.  Since being diagnosed a while back with a nonmalignant brain tumor, and always having had headaches, I probably should walk around with a helmet or at least poufy hair to cushion any blows.  I certainly shouldn't walk into side mirrors on delivery vans with enough force to rattle the whole darn thing.

The van was parked in a slot at a convenience store, way up and way too close to the outside ice machine, and I was annoyed at life in general and hurrying.  I saw the van, but not the mirror, I dodged the ice machine, and wham!--shades of that campy old Batman series, stars and colors and all.

I scared the driver to death, standing there dazed with blood running down my forehead, but I waved him away, insisted I should have been more careful, and went into the store, where I then scared the cashier to death, too.

Now, all of this is only marginally about me.  I embarrass myself to comment on the teen who fell into the manhole while texting and is now suing.

I don't think she should sue, and since she has sued--I don't think she should get a penny.

I understand that the cover should have been on, that the men could have brought cones--but if she was texting, she wouldn't have seen cones anyway.  Why is everything in the world now so important that we have to walk, pilot planes, trains, drive cars, go to the bathroom, teach classes, probably perform brain surgery--while texting drivel to those we spoke to or texted or otherwise contacted three seconds ago?

I would be more sympathetic if the teen had been a toddler, though I likely would have wanted to know if whoever was watching the child had been texting or watching the child.  But I truly believe that we bear some responsibility for our actions--such as at least being generally aware of where we are and what we're doing.

This isn't the most ludricous example of a frivolous lawsuit by any chance--and she will win, because obviously safeguards could have been taken that weren't.  Taxpayers will pick up one more bill, no biggie there.

But the McDonald's coffee lawsuit, the gambler in Las Vegas who's suing because he lost money, the unbelievably corrupt parents in our district who were routinely paid money to keep from suing--the list is endless and expensive. 

I would love--wouldn't we all--to be able to put aside money worries forever.  Winning the lottery or winning a lawsuit are the only avenues to wealth on a teacher's salary, or the salaries most of us make, for that matter.  Sometimes, when I hear of some lawsuit or another that strikes me as less than warranted, I swear I'll sure at first opportunity.

I probably could have claimed the van shouldn't have been extending partly over that funny corner of the sidewalk, or that the ice machine is a danger--other customers and I have dodged it for years. 

But the bottom line is--I was careless.  So was the teen who was texting.  Neither of us should be rewarded for that.