The other day we went to Toys R Us to get somebody a gift. I was browsing around when my eyes caught a warning label on a stroller. It read -- "Caution: Please remove infant before folding for storage." Really?! Parents need to be told this? I researched the origin of the label and found the reason behind it. The company that makes the stroller prints this cautionary label to protect itself from being sued!
Now how crazy is that. Then there was another label that caught my attention. This one was for a hammer. The caution label on the package said- "Please use only on nail head. Can cause serious injury on human head." I researched a bit more and found many more ridiculous caution labels. This all probably started with the (in)famous coffee cup burning case, where a woman won a lot of money as a result of getting burnt by spilling a steaming cup of coffee on herself from her own coffee cup.
So where does this lead us as a society, a community or as a nation? If we all are always looking for a reason to sue somebody, society cannot work as a cohesive unit. Common sense seems to be making a slow exit from our fast paced lives, punctuated by recent fiasco's by our esteemed Congressmen and Senators, where common sense seems to be an ugly word.
Common sense took a real beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Till the words "It just could be my fault" and "Life isn't always fair" don't sink in our minds, common sense will have a tough resurgence.
Here's a parting cautionary label warning, going beyond the the realm of the ridiculous, on a bottle of SLEEPING PILLS-
"Warning -- MAY CAUSE DROWSINESS!"
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Sunday, February 19, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Dream on...!!!
Last week, our daughter sent me a quote. I promised her that whenever I got around to blogging again, I would start with that quote. So here it is ---
"There are dreamers, and there are realists in this world. You'd think that the dreamers would find the dreamers, and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not, the opposite is true.You see, the dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun.
And the realists?
Well, without the dreamers, they might not ever get off the ground!"
We all, down to the last person, have dreams. Each on a different scale, but dreams nevertheless. The scale of the dreams gets tempered with age. Youthful dreams are more exuberant, grand and at a distance from reality! But that is a good thing. Our dreams drive our ambitions and are the incentive to work hard. As a wise man once said, "there's no harm in building castles in the air, as long as you are ready to roll up your sleeves and build foundations under those castles!"
As we grow in years, we keep dreaming but with a healthy dose of reality. I guess that's because we are more mature, have seen & lived life. I consider myself more of a realist than a dreamer now. I wish it was the other way around. But then my wife and children are dreamers -- exuberant, effusive and enthusiastic. So there's a constant tussle going on in our household--- I try to keep everybody close to the ground and they in turn, lift me up every so often, as I am a part of their dreams. And to be honest, that is more fun!
There is a realist in everybody's life. Let him (or her) do his job. You keep doing yours--keep dreaming and soaring!!
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"There are dreamers, and there are realists in this world. You'd think that the dreamers would find the dreamers, and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not, the opposite is true.You see, the dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun.
And the realists?
Well, without the dreamers, they might not ever get off the ground!"
We all, down to the last person, have dreams. Each on a different scale, but dreams nevertheless. The scale of the dreams gets tempered with age. Youthful dreams are more exuberant, grand and at a distance from reality! But that is a good thing. Our dreams drive our ambitions and are the incentive to work hard. As a wise man once said, "there's no harm in building castles in the air, as long as you are ready to roll up your sleeves and build foundations under those castles!"
As we grow in years, we keep dreaming but with a healthy dose of reality. I guess that's because we are more mature, have seen & lived life. I consider myself more of a realist than a dreamer now. I wish it was the other way around. But then my wife and children are dreamers -- exuberant, effusive and enthusiastic. So there's a constant tussle going on in our household--- I try to keep everybody close to the ground and they in turn, lift me up every so often, as I am a part of their dreams. And to be honest, that is more fun!
There is a realist in everybody's life. Let him (or her) do his job. You keep doing yours--keep dreaming and soaring!!
.
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