This really takes the cake:
During the "Perchten Run" (see below) in the Province of East Tirol, there were 56 injuries. Not just a scratch here or there, no, the Tiroleans don't fool around when it comes to 'quaint' customs: There were bone fractures (upper thigh), serious concussions, serious cuts and lacerations and so forth. Fifty six cases which had to be treated in hospitals. The chief of one of the hospitals is quoted as having said that this was no worse than in previous years. "We know what is coming and we prepare for it".
And now, in my humble opinion, comes the truly unbelievable: The Prosecuting Attorney of the Province says that there is no possibility of a law suit because everybody knows what goes on during such an "ancient custom" and anybody who goes out onto the street during such a "Perchten Run" takes his chances and, so he intimated, is the maker of his own misfortune.
It is truly difficult to believe, that in a civilized country, the State Attorney, the supposed protector of the Citizenry interprets such mayhem, such an exhibition of sheer brutality, as "just an old custom against which the law will not act."
He, unfortunately, is not alone in this incredible show of ill-placed tolerance. I've not read, nor heard a single word of protest in the media.
It seems that hereabouts you may well go onto the streets, to buy a cup of coffee in the neighbourhood coffee-shop, or to visit a friend, and, if you chose the wrong time and place you may get hospitalized due to a 'quaint custom' occasioned beating and it will have been your own fault. The law will do nothing and everybody feels that this is Okay, although you did not ask for a broken bone nor for a serious concussion.
And those very same people call Halloween a "Silly American Custom".
Now, "don't this just take the cake?"
so asks Bertstravels
4 comments:
I agree with the judge. It is an accepted custom that the citizenry participate in knowing that their safety is not guaranteed. Imagine if someone tried to sue the city of Pamplona because they got run over by a bull, or a baseball fan suing the stadium because he got hit by a ball; a hockey player because he got a concussion; a boxer because he got a black eye. Nope, if a particular society wants a particular violent custom to end then they will speak up. When they don't, the custom goes on - getting more violent as people push the boundaries of acceptability - and anyone that gets in the way is likely to get hurt. They best keep their mouths shut if they do too.
bad examples. The people who got hurt here did not participate in anything. They just wanted to walk safely on the street.
A hockey player participates of his own free will in a dangerous sport, and, in fact gets paid for it. The people who run in front of the bulls in Pamplona have gone there for this express purpose and must take their chances.
So, if we don't want society to get more and more violent and brutal, we had better speak out against such nonesense behaviour.
Sorry Dad - i didn't say the guy that got injured during the running of the bulls was a participant, just a guy standing on the side waiting for the bulls to pass - can he sue? What about the guy in the hockey stands that get smacked in the face with a puck, can he sue?
The guy in the hockey arena can, and in fact on several occasions has sued. The owners of the rinks always settled out of court.
I think that where anybody invites the public, he owes that public a modicum of protection. This is why many rinks have installed nets to project over and above the glass walls. There are three categories of persons who may enter any premises:
1.) The invitee, (i.e. paying customer at sport venues.
2.) The Licencee, a person who comes to a premises to make a repair or to deliver something.
3.) Trespasser. a person who enters premises contrary to posted or implied prohibition to do so.
The Invitee is entitled the greatest protection possible:
The Licencee also is entitled to this same protection, as long as he is within the area in which he needs to be to fulfill his task.
(i.e. a plumber who has been enlisted to repair a dripping toilet tank, has no business in the bedroom, unless a plumbing line runs through it.
The Trespasser is also entitled, believe it or not, to a modicum of protection. See the famous case of a person who tried to enter his neighbours apartment, using the framed glass partitions installed at every floor level. When this "break and enter" man stepped on this frame, it broke and he crashed through to the floor below. A judge found the landlord guilty of allowing a dangerous situation to exist, which the injured man could not foresee.
Nuts ? eh?
Post a Comment