They Didn't Hurt McDonald's, But They Did Hurt The Nation

I once met a gentleman who was from the State Atto
ey General's office in Texas, where they had the famous McDonald's hot coffee case. Now, you know they call it “hot” coffee for a reason—and this lady, as you may remember the story, purchased some hot coffee and spilt it on herself.

I mean, who’s going to put a Styrofoam cup of hot coffee between their legs and use those same legs to operate the foot pedals without inviting disaster?

Of course, our society is not going to make her accept responsibility for that. Again, I'm reminded that so many societies do it so differently.

In our society, even though she is the one who spilt the coffee, she didn't have to take the responsibility. But she is clearly the responsible party. What in the world was she doing putting it between her legs in a Styrofoam cup that can easily twist when she had to brake or when she had to accelerate?

But here she was. She won some millions of dollars because she purchased a cup of hot coffee, and it was hot and scalded her. And of course they did the research, and they found that the actual temperature might have been two or three degrees hotter than somebody in their infinite wisdom decided would be best.

So let's now take all the responsibility away from the person who purchased what was clearly labeled hot coffee. I don't know about you, but most people realize it's hot, unless they want iced coffee or cold coffee. Most people think that cold coffee or lukewarm coffee is anathema. I hate it!

But again, we are rewarding behavior. We're rewarding the crybaby society, we're rewarding trying to blame society, to put it on others. And this gentleman from the State Atto
ey General's office felt justified—now, this was years later, and he felt justified.

He explained to me that this and that was fair, especially those millions of dollars, because all that was was the profits that McDonald's makes worldwide on their coffee sales in a single day. So apparently, they didn't hurt McDonalds.

No, but they did hurt the nation. They did hurt this lady, by sending a clear message that you can be a crybaby society. You're not responsible for participating in what should be a dance, and you can get rewarded again.

Now, I've spent a lot of time in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Panamá. Those are my three favorite Latin countries. You can't imagine the roads, the sidewalks… I mean, we're talking Third World, buddy.

And if there's a big, gaping hole in the sidewalk, which there is a lot of times—well, if you were to try and sue some homeowner, some corporation, some government for that, you wouldn't even get into court.

I mean, it's a laughable idea. What would they say? You were walking down the street. There was a hole in the sidewalk, or there was some uneven place that people could trip on. So? You are an adult. Case closed.

Same thing with driving into a pothole. The attitude: “It’s there, you should avoid it.”

Do not buy into what the blame society tells you. And this again, comes from high levels. I don't even want to go back to where its origins started, because it's not a thing that I'm going to get involved in. I'm talking to you, the achievers; do not buy into the blame society. Accept responsibility on your own.

And you know what I'd encourage you to do? I'd encourage you to visit India. I'd encourage you to visit the Dominican Republic.

And I'm not talking about a resort, where you fly in, where you're met at the airplane door and you're scuttled through in a group and you get on an air-conditioned private shuttle bus, and then you go to the resort that has six to ten restaurants and you spend all four days of your time there. You don't even see the world.

I'm talking about getting out in the world, engaging, mixing, and really seeing how the other half lives. Your self-confidence will soar. Your sense of responsibility for all you create will make you a creative, productive individual.

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