Saturday, May 2, 2009
Frivolity And Economy
Want to hear something funny? There’s this product called the “Off Road Commode”, which is an actual toilet seat that attaches to the trailer hitch of a vehicle. I guess it’s made for those outdoorsman types. But that’s not the funny part. This product comes with a warning label that states the product “shouldn’t be used while the VEHICLE IS MOVING”.
Some other funnies are:
What’s not so funny is the reason stupid warning labels are required (besides the fact that there are stupid people who need them). Bob Dorigo Jones, author of Remove Child Before Folding, the 101 Stupidest, Silliest, and Wackiest Warning Labels Ever, states that “the thickest section of any telephone book in the U.S. is the section advertising the services of personal injury lawyers, and that is not a recipe for an economic recovery. For America to thrive, we need to expand the labor market, not the litigation market.” “According to the Pacific Research Institute,” continued Dorigo Jones, “$589 billion would be saved per year for investment in new jobs and consumer spending if U.S. tort-cost levels were comparable in relative size with other industrialized countries. This amount equals an annual "litigation tax" for a family of four of more than $9,000."
So the question remains whether people should be rewarded for not having common sense. The reason these stupid labels accompany products is because the manufacturers are clearly afraid of getting sued, only to be sued anyway.
So do your part to revitalize the American economy and remember that the coffee is hot.
POSTED BY STAN at May 2, 2009
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