Hi everyone, I am sharing, as I do now every Saturday one of my dad’s wonderful emails but first I feel the need to address the horrific earthquake. I am just so heartbroken over the earthquake that has occurred in Turkey and Syria. The pictures and videos are too hard to watch and the untold human loss of life seems like too much to even grasp.
We were able to make a very nice donation to Samaritan’s Purse (we donated 10% of sales for our pink sale) and are committing to donating another 10% of all sales today through Tuesday.
Along with the horror stories and images of loss, there have been some incredible survival stories too and they are worth sharing which is what I am doing here today. I am very mindful of the suffering happening on the other side of the world, though life continues normally for us here in the U.S. It is normal to feel helpless but at least in donating, we are doing something.
When I see these miraculous stories of survival , I am reminded of the strength of the human will….of all ages, including newborns who were buried under rubble for over 70 hours. Astounding! The idea of what it will take to build back the affected areas is beyond staggering, but I believe like other countries have done, we all need to step up and our part, however small or big that can be. Every single dollar counts when you are talking about 78,000 injured/homeless/displaced human beings.
Here are some of the stories of hope that I found utterly amazing-
And a little about Samaritan’s Purse and their relief efforts-
Switching to a totally different gear, this is one my dad’s latest emails and it will likely leave your jaw on the floor! To be believed…as they say, only in America! I didn’t even know about the Stella Awards ( guarantee these are even real as it seems so outrageous!)
The annual ” Stella Awards”! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald’s in New Mexico, where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right
That’s right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy!
Here are the Stella’s for this year:
· SEVENTH PLACE
Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.
Start scratching!
· SIXTH PLACE *
Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn’t notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor’s hubcaps.
Scratch some more…
· FIFTH PLACE *
Terrence Dickson, of Bristol,
CT, was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn’t re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count ’em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner’s insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish Keep scratching. There are more..
Double head scratching after this one.
· FOURTH PLACE *
Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella’s when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor’s beagle – even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner’s fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun
Pick a new spot to scratch, you’re getting a bald spot.
· THIRD PLACE *
Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.
Only two more so ease up on the scratching..
*SECOND PLACE*
Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000….oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure
Ok. Here we go!!
· FIRST PLACE *
This year’s runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver’s seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner’s manual that she couldn’t actually leave the driver’s seat while the cruise control was set The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down?
$1,750,000.
PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.
If you think the USA court system is out of control, be sure to pass this one on.
Don’t forget our 3 day pillow pop up is on and is loaded with the most beautiful pillows. Click here to visit the sale
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed the post and thank you again for helping to support the relief efforts. Wishing everyone a wonderful day. Until next time…..
Hilarious and outrageous!!! But, these awards should really name the unscrupulous, (however clever) lawyers, who convinced these idiots they had a case, and the judge and jury who played along!!!
While most of these untrue stories have been circulating for years, with all sorts of different names attached, don’t you know there probably ARE true stories just as mind boggling!
I know that at least 3 of these cases are true, but not sure about the others. However you know this kind of thing goes on all the time in our crazy country. My husband is a district attorney and trust me, we have heard it all! As you said- only in America! We are unravelling much too fast.
Thanks for highlighting the earthquake, not enough people are and that is a shame. I love your passion and empathy, rare qualities these days! Thank you Tina
Sad post with a funny ending. Thank you so much for doing your part and helping the tens of thousands who have either died or are homeless.
I will never forget the story of the man who sued McDonald’s for spilling hot coffee on himself. What is our country coming to? 😓 Love your dads emails and of course every one of your delightful posts!
Love your Saturdays with your Dad. After my mother passed away I spent every Saturday morning with my Dad…he would make our breakfast, often a toasted muffin and coffee. Miss him and our Saturdays so much but am so thankful we had our time together.
P.S. the Stella Awards are so outrageous they are laughable …thanks for sharing….
Samaritan’s Purse is a favorite charity of mine also for all the work they do in crisis situations all over the world due to natural disasters, etc. Franklin Graham has a wonderful team that is to be applauded and prayed for daily. God bless them for the wonderful work they do!
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Hi everyone, I am sharing, as I do now every Saturday one of my dad’s wonderful emails but first I feel the need to address the horrific earthquake. I am just so heartbroken over the earthquake that has occurred in Turkey and Syria. The pictures and videos are too hard to watch and the untold human loss of life seems like too much to even grasp.
We were able to make a very nice donation to Samaritan’s Purse (we donated 10% of sales for our pink sale) and are committing to donating another 10% of all sales today through Tuesday.
Along with the horror stories and images of loss, there have been some incredible survival stories too and they are worth sharing which is what I am doing here today. I am very mindful of the suffering happening on the other side of the world, though life continues normally for us here in the U.S. It is normal to feel helpless but at least in donating, we are doing something.
When I see these miraculous stories of survival , I am reminded of the strength of the human will….of all ages, including newborns who were buried under rubble for over 70 hours. Astounding! The idea of what it will take to build back the affected areas is beyond staggering, but I believe like other countries have done, we all need to step up and our part, however small or big that can be. Every single dollar counts when you are talking about 78,000 injured/homeless/displaced human beings.
Click here to visit the shop and keep in mind 10% of all sales will be going to Samaritan’s Purse. Thank you1
Here are some of the stories of hope that I found utterly amazing-
And a little about Samaritan’s Purse and their relief efforts-
Switching to a totally different gear, this is one my dad’s latest emails and it will likely leave your jaw on the floor! To be believed…as they say, only in America! I didn’t even know about the Stella Awards ( guarantee these are even real as it seems so outrageous!)
Don’t forget our 3 day pillow pop up is on and is loaded with the most beautiful pillows. Click here to visit the sale
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed the post and thank you again for helping to support the relief efforts. Wishing everyone a wonderful day. Until next time…..
These are so funny and,yes, it’s America?. Thanks for sharing! Your dad is great and right on target.
You can’t make this stuff up…out of control…yep!!! franki
OMG Tina – these jury awards are hard to believe!! Who the heck was on the juries & how did the judges allow these outrageous decisions?! WOW
Many online sites, including Snopes, say the Stella Awards stories are not real cases.
Hilarious and outrageous!!! But, these awards should really name the unscrupulous, (however clever) lawyers, who convinced these idiots they had a case, and the judge and jury who played along!!!
All of the reported “Stella Awards” are untrue. None of these lawsuits/verdicts actually happened. Check SNOPES.
While most of these untrue stories have been circulating for years, with all sorts of different names attached, don’t you know there probably ARE true stories just as mind boggling!
I know that at least 3 of these cases are true, but not sure about the others. However you know this kind of thing goes on all the time in our crazy country. My husband is a district attorney and trust me, we have heard it all! As you said- only in America! We are unravelling much too fast.
Thanks for highlighting the earthquake, not enough people are and that is a shame. I love your passion and empathy, rare qualities these days! Thank you Tina
Thank you for sharing these crazy stories. I have a bald spot after reading these!!!
Sad post with a funny ending. Thank you so much for doing your part and helping the tens of thousands who have either died or are homeless.
I will never forget the story of the man who sued McDonald’s for spilling hot coffee on himself. What is our country coming to? 😓 Love your dads emails and of course every one of your delightful posts!
Love your Saturdays with your Dad. After my mother passed away I spent every Saturday morning with my Dad…he would make our breakfast, often a toasted muffin and coffee. Miss him and our Saturdays so much but am so thankful we had our time together.
P.S. the Stella Awards are so outrageous they are laughable …thanks for sharing….
Samaritan’s Purse is a favorite charity of mine also for all the work they do in crisis situations all over the world due to natural disasters, etc. Franklin Graham has a wonderful team that is to be applauded and prayed for daily. God bless them for the wonderful work they do!
Thanks for sharing Tina!
It’s sad to say but if any money can be made their are people that will be dishonest. Money is the root of all evil.