An acquaintance of mine was recently involved in a minor road accident. She was cycling her bike and failed to notice
a car which was idling ahead of her until it was too late. She collided with the back of the car and
slightly injured herself. When she went
to apologise to the driver, he demanded her contact details in case she had
damaged his car. She gave him the
details and continued on her way. He is
now threatening to sue, not just to get compensation for supposed damage
to his car, but for his “medical bills”.
He was sitting in a padded seat, wearing a seatbelt, and was protected
by the metal frame of his car. Just what
kind of injuries could he have sustained in a slight bump with a
bicycle? Perhaps it was psychological
trauma?
Minor bumps and scrapes used to be
considered unfortunate accidents. Now,
it seems, they are fantastic opportunities to make money!
Compensation culture is taking over the
world in other ways as well. You have
just been dumped by your boyfriend or girlfriend? Why not demand a break-up payment from them
for the emotional damage and wasted time they have caused you? According to an article I read a few months
ago, this custom is becoming popular in urban China. It is not legally binding, but couples which
break up sometimes agree upon a sum of money to be paid by the person
who ends the relationship. It is a bit
like a divorce settlement. In one case,
a woman who dumped her boyfriend tried to calculate exactly how much he had
spent on her in restaurant bills, cinema tickets and so on while dating. She sent him an itemised list of estimated
costs, and gave him the same amount in cash.
I hope that she was more romantic during the relationship!
Perhaps we all just have to get used to
living in a compensation culture. Keep
all your receipts, and the number of a good lawyer
Vocabulary:
an acquaintance – someone that you know
to sue – to take to court
a bump – a minor collision
a scrape – the rough rubbing of one object
against another
to dump (passive, to be dumped) – to end a
relationship with someone
a sum of money – a certain amount of money
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