By Chris Scott Barr
Here’s a funny story to brighten up your Monday morning. A 15-year-old girl was walking down a sidewalk on Staten Island and fell into an open manhole. While that would normally not make for an amusing story, the girl also happened to be texting at the time, thus she was completely oblivious to the fact that there was a gaping hole in the ground. She didn’t get seriously injured, so we’re all free to laugh a bit.
In the girl’s defense, there weren’t any cones or markers around the hole, which doesn’t look good on the city. The girl fell down 4 or 5 feet into a mostly drained sewer, got a few scrapes and lost a shoe. The family is planning on suing the city for an undisclosed amount due the physical and mental anguish that the girl has endured. No, not the mental anguish for being stupid enough to not look where you’re walking, but the fact that the sewer was “putrid.”
Yes, I think the city should offer the girl a little money, since they were partially at fault for not marking the area. However, since the girl didn’t actually suffer any real injuries, I think that the family should take any small amount offered. No jury in their right mind would award a large settlement to a girl that was paying too much attention to a phone to watch where she was going. Oh, and you can bet that this incident is going to be brought up by people trying to ban texting while driving. Congratulations Alexa Longueira, you’re going to be famous! Famous for being stupid.
VIA [ MSNBC ]