1.08.2007

Tigger Gone Wild

I caught this story on my local news a few nights ago. A family from New Hampshire was was vacationing in Disney World when Tigger apparently "sucker punched" a fourteen year old boy. My local CBS affiliate has the video in their "Top Stories" sidebar.

I've watched the video. Tigger did turn and pop the kid, for which he should lose his job. If you can't deal with the public, don't be a character actor at Disney World. Right before he does it though, you can see the kid tug at the back of Tiggers outfit and say something to the guy in the Tigger costume. One has to wonder what he said. This is, after all, a fourteen year old boy we're talking about.

Now the dad has an attorney and they are suing Disney (anyone surprised by this?). In the interview that's posted on KUTV's website the father says he had to take his son to the hospital with "back pain" and the boy says that he still has pain, but he's on medication for it. Oh please. The guy in the Tigger costume did not hit that boy hard enough to do any damage, he couldn't even make a fist, for crying out loud. I have yet to hear of, or read, that the family reported the incident to the local police, or had the guy in the costume arressted for assault.

This is another example of why we need legistaltion at the Federal level providing penalties for frivolous lawsuits. I'm sure the parents went, "Yes, we can sue Disney!" and the attorney that caught the case told them, "Your son is in pain, right? wink wink nudge nudge."

The sad thing is, Disney will settle the lawsuit to make the bad publicity go away and this bozo and his family will make money of their kids bad behavior. Again, the guy should lose his job, maybe even have to pay a fine for simple assault, he did pop the kid, but suing Disney? You know what lesson this kid is going to learn? It's never really my fault, and if it is, I can always blame someone else.