Your Opinion: Why cost of goods is so high

Dear Editor:

If you recall, some time ago I wrote about a thing called "Common Sense." Well, here is something to think about.

Have you ever wondered why things cost so much? I have. Recently I received an email from a friend that indicated a few judicial rulings that could be suspect regarding this dilemma which we all face. Take a look and see what you think.

1. Woman awarded $ 80,000 for breaking her ankle. She tripped over her own child in a furniture store.

2. A man was awarded $74,000 plus medical expenses because while he was attempting to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. The neighbor, not seeing him, ran over his hands.

3. A man, after burglarizing a home, left through the kitchen door into the garage, locking it behind himself, then discovered the garage door would not open. He was forced to stay in the garage for eight days waiting for the return of the owners. He was awarded $500,000 for anguish suffered.

4. A man was awarded $14,500 for being bitten by a dog, which was chained in his neighbor's fenced back yard, after going into the yard and shooting the dog several times with a pellet gun.

5. A lady was awarded $113,500 after slipping on the floor of a restaurant due to a drink she threw at her boyfriend.

6. A woman was awarded $12,000 plus dental expenses after falling onto the floor of the bathroom that she had entered rather than paying the $3.50 cover charge at a club.

7. $1,700,000 plus a new Winnebago was given to a woman who while driving 70 mph in her Winnebago, turned on the cruise control, and went to the kitchen area to make herself a sandwich. This was awarded as the manual did not state she should not leave the driver's seat when the vehicle is in motion.

Now, if you believe these judicial awards are intelligently thought out, and the insurance should have been made to pay for such ignorance, perhaps you and that judge could be part of the problem. What do you think?