Where does individual liability for safety end and third party responsibility for damages begin? It’s a thin line.

However, it’s undeniably evident that our society has become far too litigious for its own good.

We Americans would rather equivocate around the real issues, like neglect and absent mindedness, than admit responsibility for our daily bloopers. Opportunistic capitalism and arrogance laced with vindication is what this phenomenon can be reduced to.

It’s like a reflex for Americans to react to an unfavorable outcome induced by another by dialing 1-800-Jacoby-and-Meyers. Never should one’s lawyer be on speed dial — that’s just plain wrong, folks. I’ve actually been threatened in the course of a disagreement with “Oh yeah, well, well, I’ll sue you if you don’t like it!”

What inspired this article was a radio talk show broadcast I heard the other day, which discussed a civil suit brought against the manufacturers of the BlackBerry portable device. One of the plaintiffs actually claimed the “crack-berry” (as she saw fit to deem it) caused her to have a motorcycle accident because it was just so addicting, she simply couldn’t put it down!

How do you drive a motorcycle if both your hands are occupied fiddling with a “crack-berry?” Perhaps that was the problem? The BlackBerry didn’t compel her to do anything irrational; her inadequate attention span did. If anyone should be sued, it should be her, for causing a pileup and endangering the lives of other people who possess enough common sense to drive using their hands.

Same thing goes for the stale, though still pertinent, case of the man drinking Starbucks (or McDonald’s) coffee and getting burned. One can hardly believe it possible. Perhaps if had he realized that coffee, by its very nature, is hot, he would have refrained from scalding his genitals in such an avoidable manner.

I am sorry, but I am not empathetic toward people looking to make a quick buck from a clearly self-inflicted accident. If we legitimize this kind of behavior, then I suppose I’ll start walking to all my classes with bars of soap strapped to the soles of my shoes.

I suggest that everyone permit their lawyers a vacation and stop looking for compensation at every turn.