Really fine print
Binghamton, NY, November 2009
[Click here for more "singles" ridiculousness]
With 7+ billion people on the planet, I get that we need a few rules here and there to keep things under a certain semblance of control.
I am somewhat amused, however, at the near-maniacal way legalese has infected North American life - okay, I'm being kind...it's really an American thing - like a case of structural mold in post-Katrina New Orleans. It's everywhere, it's growing, and no one seems to have the willingness or the ability to raise a hand and say. "Enough".
Consider this my enough moment. Because when a silly little McDonald's contest generates more 6-point-font words than I've written over the previous six months, words that most participants will never read let along have a prayer of understanding, something is wrong. Very, very wrong.
Your turn: Why have we reached this point? How do we back away from the edge of the fine print cliff? Am I the only one who finds this nuts?
you are so right! i think it has to do with a shift in how people perceive each other. we basically lost faith in one another, maybe after the sex, drugs and rock and roll era of the 60 - 70's. so when someone comes along like barack obama to remind us that we have a duty to make things right again, i leap to catch that train. i believe we can make a difference! and your enough moment is all part of the process. thanks for starting the ball rolling here.
ReplyDeleteWell, u and I know that Americans are sue-happy..They find any reason to sue... When I worked in the schools, the district would bend over backwards to keep the parents happy. Bend over so far that they would diagnose kids as ADD or ADHD because if they told the truth to the parents that the reason their son/daughter acted out due to bad parenting they would be sued...Believe me, on that because a school shrink said it... Another follower who is a teacher agreed w/me when she had a discussion on her page about students...
ReplyDeleteThe USA has way to many frivolous lawsuits that are being awarded or settled for millions of dollars per case. Folks are no longer accountable for their own actions. For their lack of judgment I guess this is the way for business to avoid being taken to the cleaners.
ReplyDeleteThe unfortunate part is it permeates every part of our society. 2000 page health care bills that no one reads or understands before voting on... A tax code that when printed weighs enough to break tables... etc...
ReplyDeleteAnd do you blame McDonalds for covering themselves? This is the company who got ordered to pay 13 million dollars because some woman SPILLED COFFEE ON HERSELF!!!!
I would just like to think that the human race is just getting smarter and smarter, which means that they can come up with more and more loop holes, which means more and more fine print to cover every other loop hole. Haha
ReplyDeleteI think because we have eroded personal responsibility, simple common sense is disappearing too. So, because people are no longer required to think things like "Hmm, this is a lawnmower, maybe I shouldn't use it as a hedge trimmer." corporations now find themselves in a position where they are required to specifically point out that lawnmowers are only designed for mowing lawns, screwdrivers are only designed for driving screws and carrying a cup of hot coffee in your crotch may be a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteMost of the points made above are collectively correct. I'll only add that we as a culture have become over-protective, and apprehensive to taking risks. This fine print poster is just a legal manifestation of that.
ReplyDeleteDon't go to McDonald's.
ReplyDeleteThe food is crap, and these places have driven honest restaurants out of business.
No - Go WHEREVER you want to eat, and shop anywhere you want too. McDonalds does not drive any restaurant out of business. The other business's failure to offer a product people want at a price they are willing to pay does.
ReplyDeleteAnd if fast food is driving an honest restaurant out of business, I think you have the wrong idea of who's food is crap.
Well, u and I know that Americans are sue-happy..They find any reason to sue..
ReplyDeletesimply put, the ever-present EULA has inured Americans to just blowing off any legalistic-looking fine print document, so the lawyers will keep making them more involved, because we are sheep.
ReplyDeleteI suspect we will find that we all have pledged to become Bill Gates' car-mats at some point.
McDonald's: Proof that Americans can get used to any damn crap shoved at us if enough money is spent on advertising.
ReplyDeleteSee also: Windows.