Hot Coffee...

Ever heard of the woman who spilled coffee from McDonald's in her lap, sued them, and won millions?  Her name was Stella Liebeck...the cup of coffee was 180 degrees and scalded her groin area so badly that she needed surgery and skin graphs.  Her life was never the same. Though she only sued for medical costs, a jury awarded her $2.86 million in punitive costs.  However permanent her injuries, pain, and suffering were...Stella's case has become synomous with frivilous lawsuits. 

In a powerful new documentary titled "Hot Coffee", filmmaker Susan Saladoff  showcases how this case ushered in an era of damage award caps and mandatory arbitration, and how America's big business has eroded the rights of plantiffs everywhere.

Ok...I hear you now...tort reform? mandatory abitration? award caps? This may sound like a recipe for insomnia but don't be too quick to judge (no pun intended!).  This documentary has taken Sundance by storm and was purchased by HBO...it premiered on HBO on Monday night and I loved it.  I found it completely fascinating. Saladoff does an excellent job highlighting high profile cases and explaining how the changes in our legal system has affected people... and more importantly how these changes could affect you.

So if you have HBO, check your listings. If you are a NetFlixer, put it in the que.  I highly recommend it...  you may come away from watching it angry, but you will understand your rights as a consumer, employee, plantiff much, much better. Consider it a brush-up on your legal IQ.

So watch"Hot Coffee" the movie and find out what happened to Stella Liebeck v. McDonald's Corp.  (Hint:  She never recieves her $2.86 million! Imagine that!)  And buy your coffee at Starbuck's, for pete's sake! Or better yet, brew your own! 

--Meghan

I am still alive in Blogger World!

This blog probably should have been titled "I came, I saw, I never wrote"!  Where have almost 5 months gone since my last entry? Wow. It was a wicked busy spring with life at the Sykes household.  I thought about writing A LOT but there was very little time to pause, to reflect, or even to sleep - so Veni-Vidi-Scripti had to take a back burner. There are only so many hours of the day, ya know? As much as I hate to admit, I can't do everything.

But that was then and this is now! It is Summer! Yay! Sports are finished. The kids are off from school (or as they like to call it "Kid Prison").  The jellyfish have yet to make their dreaded appearance at our beach, so we have been beaching it almost everyday possible. The flow and structure of our day definitely has been dialed down a few notches in the last two weeks.

With this new summer schedule, I am challenging myself to write some blogs -to kickstart summer and my blogging habits. There will be a post everyday for the next 7 days. Yep, you read correctly. One entire week of blogs...from the writer that has been silent for 5 months! Will I be able to keep up that pace? 7 blogs? I have only one idea for the next blog - so who knows what this will force me to write about - lol! So please stay tuned and find out. 

I hope you are out there enjoying your summer too.  Here's to the summer downshift, to recharging and getting inspired.

--Meghan