Jump into the ocean and break your neck? File a lawsuit against the city.
Burglarize a house but get punched out by the homeowner? Go to court.
Here's a new one: Have your teen-age son sit in a stolen car with 16-year-old Jared Fe Benito. They drive around Aiea. The cops try to apprehend the boys, who attempt to get away. Jared is shot to death; your son is wounded, but recovers. Sue Jared's parents, because the dead boy caused your son, who has a prior arrest record, to get hurt.
It's a cold, crazy and litigious world - which is one reason that legislators and county officials are adamant about maintaining emergency ambulance service in Hawaii Kai. The state, in its relentless quest to balance the budget, wanted to curtail the ambulances from rolling through the East Honolulu community from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Mayor Harris, however, put his foot down - right on Governor Cayetano's. "I will not allow ambulance service in Hawaii Kai or anywhere else on this island to be cut," he told a worried neighborhood board last month. Other area lawmakers - Sen. Donna Ikeda, Rep. David Stegmaier, House Minority Leader Gene Ward and Councilman John Henry Felix - protested as well.
It was like the kids on the block ganging up on the big, bad bully, and Ben didn't like it one bit. A livid Cayetano called Harris' antics "grandstanding" since the mayor is up for re-election in 1996.
Omigosh! When Harris stuck up for ambulance service, was he partly motivated by political concerns? Only if he's smart.
CONSIDER this horrendous scenario: It is past midnight and somebody in Hawaii Kai is really sick or hurt. She needs an ambulance. The closest emergency station, however, is in Wailupe. She croaks en route. Her heirs sue the county. At trial, they win a multimillion-dollar judgment.
Beside the tragic death, taxpayers are now faced with paying off the hefty settlement, a morbid windfall that could have been avoided if adequate and timely ambulance service had been maintained for the area.
At this point, on whom will they unleash their wrath? On the lolo public servant who should have seen this coming, the head of city government, Jeremy Harris.
Therefore, when the mayor fights for this or any other cause, it had better be politically motivated - election year or not. As long as there are lawyers, somebody's got to protect invaluable lives and precious tax dollars by embracing the well-known business principle known as C.Y.A. - Covering Your Assets.