Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

What better way than to start your Monday than by reading a story about a girl who fell into an open manhole cover because she was walking and texting and obviously not paying attention to where she was going?  If nothing else, it will make you feel just a little bit better about the bad weekend that you may have had because you can now rejoice in the fact that at least you did not fall into an open manhole in New York City.

Anyway, the story goes like this.  A 15-year old Staten Island girl, Alexa Longueria, fell about 4-5 foot down when she walked into an open manhole cover.  The fall caused her to scrape up her back and shoulders, but she was not seriously injured, except maybe a little in terms of her pride.

Of course, according to her mother, “the ‘gross’ factor that can’t be ignored,” because it turns out that the manhole cover was removed in order to the Department of Environmental Protection to perform some high-pressure sewer line flushing.  According to the reports, the fall even caused her to lose a shoe in the process.

It turns out that the manhole cover was not just left widely open, but instead the working crew opened the cover and then went to look for marking cones.  Perhaps an error in judgment on their part, but that was time enough for Alexa Longueria to fall in.  But that is OK, because in our litigious society, the mother has decided to sue.  However, she is not really sure who or what she is going to sue for just yet.

The family said they will file a lawsuit—for what, though, is not immediately clear. Her mother, Kim Longueira, said it doesn’t matter that her daughter was walking and texting, and also, the ‘gross’ factor that can’t be ignored.

That said, sarcasm aside, the manhole cover should have been closed or properly marked and blocked, but on the other side, gadgets in hand or not, we really should be paying attention to where we are walking.

Read [MSNBC]