- Rude, dumb drivers who are yakking into their hand-held cell phones and not paying attention to what they're doing. Can't we figure out a way to triple their insurance rates?
- Jesse Jackson's sticking his nose into the presidential vote count in Ohio.
- Rude people screeching into their cell phones in airport boarding areas. Can't we make a new law and fine them for disturbing the peace?
- Rude drivers who ignore the fact that pedestrians, in a legal crosswalk, always have the right-of-way, even if they're multi-tasking on their cell phones. Why do these menaces have to maim or kill someone before they get arrested? And is temporary insanity due to road rage a viable defense?
- Any person dawdling in front of you at a drive-up ATM. Is it written anywhere that we have to fire a warning shot before rear-ending them out of the way? And if they're on a cell phone and ignore the warning shot, are additional drastic measures permissible?
- Smarmy “lawyers” who begin their nauseating TV commercials with the phrase, “If you've been injured in an accident…”
- Rude people who interrupt a conversation with their dinner partner in a restaurant to take a call on their cell phone. And then talk with their mouth full. If they choke, are you justified in withholding the Heimlich maneuver … even if you're a doctor? And can their next of kin file suit for malpractice after the funeral?
- Fear Factor and Growing Up Gotti. Enough said.
- Cell phones that signal an incoming call with any show tune, instead of a discreet ring.
What does any of this have to due with adjusters or claims? Not much, but I feel better now. And you know, not everything has to be about you.
And speaking of cellulars, Chicago-based U.S. Cellular has an experiment going that bans e-mail use on Fridays — to promote and encourage more face-to-face interaction. And a software company in LaLaLand (of course) is trying the same thing. Now shouldn't that one go right on top of the Dumb Ideas pile! Just imagine how chaotic your adjusting life would become if you were without e-mail for even one day of the week. And you thought the insurance industry was a little crazy at times…
An Important Note
It's time to sharpen your quill pens and think about ACE-SCLA 2005. It'll be held at Orlando's Gaylord Palms Resort, Oct. 6-8, and now's the time to submit your abstracts if you have a desire to be a presenter at the conference. The conference steering committee will entertain abstracts for four tracks: management, technology, legal, and special issues.
Abstracts should be no more than 100 words, with the proposed track labeled, and should include speaker(s) and short bios. A total of 20 breakout educational sessions are planned, five in each track, so you can be sure that the ACEoSCLA conference steering committee has its work cut out.
Send abstracts, suggested speakers, bios, and contact information in Word format as an e-mail attachment to [email protected]. Our target date to finalize the conference program is Feb. 10, 2005. And if you wait until after you file your federal taxes and then decide to submit and expect the committee to be all warm and fuzzy and thankful for your great abstract, well … you just might find yourself mentioned in my Pet Peeves of 2005.
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