Please hear me out.
Recently, my friends and my wife have told me that my concern for the safety of my children has passed the threshold of “normalcy.” Apparently, I have become too paranoid. For instance, I prohibit my children from playing on the street. But this was only because one of my daughters almost got hit by an onrushing van before. Is it my fault if I wanted to keep my child healthy? Of course, I did scold her quite harshly afterwards, but that’s beside the point. Another time, my son stayed longer than usual at school. Now, I know middle school students, since they are just starting out their teenage years, have to be dealt with patiently, but how was I to know that he was merely working overtime to polish a class presentation and did not faint, or worse, get attacked by a bully? The security in his school is not at all dysfunctional (I’ve taken care to find him a good school, thank you!), but even then, you never know…
I love my children so much that I don’t know what I could do if any of them gets hurt. But aside from that, I would never, if given the chance, get myself involved in another lawsuit. I’ve only recently settled a No Win No Fee UK claim at work. I admit I was at fault, so I finished the matter up quickly. But the whole experience has been traumatic. Receiving a demand letter, calling up my own lawyer, negotiating with the defendant, and the worst of all, having to shell out my own money (in this economy!) without having any power to disobey the law (I’ve no intentions in going back to rehab), well, I don’t really know how to describe how I feel. Lawsuits, whether No Win No Fee UK claims or whatever, don’t interest me at all, thank you. And if I could avoid having to do with any lawsuit at all by ensuring that my children are always safe—no more demanding anything from anybody, even if I or my children were the one to be compensated—then I could honestly say I’m living a happy life. So that’s that.
My question is this: have I been overreacting? Am I, to use my wife’s words, “sacrificing my children’s happiness for my own”? Please don’t be afraid to share your thoughts.
Recently, my friends and my wife have told me that my concern for the safety of my children has passed the threshold of “normalcy.” Apparently, I have become too paranoid. For instance, I prohibit my children from playing on the street. But this was only because one of my daughters almost got hit by an onrushing van before. Is it my fault if I wanted to keep my child healthy? Of course, I did scold her quite harshly afterwards, but that’s beside the point. Another time, my son stayed longer than usual at school. Now, I know middle school students, since they are just starting out their teenage years, have to be dealt with patiently, but how was I to know that he was merely working overtime to polish a class presentation and did not faint, or worse, get attacked by a bully? The security in his school is not at all dysfunctional (I’ve taken care to find him a good school, thank you!), but even then, you never know…
I love my children so much that I don’t know what I could do if any of them gets hurt. But aside from that, I would never, if given the chance, get myself involved in another lawsuit. I’ve only recently settled a No Win No Fee UK claim at work. I admit I was at fault, so I finished the matter up quickly. But the whole experience has been traumatic. Receiving a demand letter, calling up my own lawyer, negotiating with the defendant, and the worst of all, having to shell out my own money (in this economy!) without having any power to disobey the law (I’ve no intentions in going back to rehab), well, I don’t really know how to describe how I feel. Lawsuits, whether No Win No Fee UK claims or whatever, don’t interest me at all, thank you. And if I could avoid having to do with any lawsuit at all by ensuring that my children are always safe—no more demanding anything from anybody, even if I or my children were the one to be compensated—then I could honestly say I’m living a happy life. So that’s that.
My question is this: have I been overreacting? Am I, to use my wife’s words, “sacrificing my children’s happiness for my own”? Please don’t be afraid to share your thoughts.
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