Comeback kid -- Pediatrics, Christmas, Metra

Jack Wilson wrote:

"The jury decided in her favor,...attributing 62.5 percent of the fault to Northwestern Transportation, 33 percent to Metra and 4.5 percent to Barton. "
Aren't juries actually estimating relative net worth, rather than fault? I would love to see how jurors justify this bizarre and twisted logic.

No, juries determine fault if fault is in question. And obviously, it always is or else there wouldn't be a lawsuit.

she's amazing. i've only heard her play once, but i was captivated - before i even knew her story.

i'm glad this story clears up so many misconceptions about her accident - and talent.

not laughing wrote:

<quoted text>
No, juries determine fault if fault is in question. And obviously, it always is or else there wouldn't be a lawsuit.

Funny how it works out that the entities with the deepest pockets ending up being most at fault.

Juries determined that the first terrorist bombing of the WTC was almost completely the fault of the Port Authority!

Jack Wilson wrote:

<quoted text>
Funny how it works out that the entities with the deepest pockets ending up being most at fault.
Juries determined that the first terrorist bombing of the WTC was almost completely the fault of the Port Authority!

Juries find that deep pockets are at fault because deep pockets are the ones that get sued.

Rachel next performs Beethoven concerto April 17 in Merrilville Indiana;
http://www.NISOrchestra.org

not laughing wrote:

<quoted text>
Juries find that deep pockets are at fault because deep pockets are the ones that get sued.

Rachel sued herself?

40 surgeries later wrote:

and people still are fighting this. Why can't you just accept the outcome that the jury found to be justified?
I suppose the government has never helped you?
You have never driven on our roads?(Do you think the gas tax pays for the cost of roads?)
OR You have never been to school ?(Hey, I don't have kids and many don't who do pay property tax)
Mean-spirited people, like yourself, are just showing their true colors.
I am so glad so many others have spoken up for Rachel.
<quoted text>

What part of this is the part where the government services come into play?

I've even ridden the Metra a couple of times since I read this article, and still haven't managed to find myself underneath it. Craziness.

To all the boneheads:

Have you ever worn a violin case on your back? Not a rucksack or anything else, but a violin case.

I dare you to try this, it's nothing like a rucksack. It is rather difficult to unstrap a violin case because unlike rucksacks, violin cases are built very stiff and sturdy so they will protect their cargo.

In fact, I dare you to try getting out of the straps of a violin case on your back while somebody is holding on to it and dragging you. You'll find that it will be very difficult to get yourself out of the straps if you can do it at all.

I can tell because I wear my violin case on my back all the time when I go places with my violin. I always have to wiggle myself out of the straps.

In any event, your comments in this regard are totally unqualified UNLESS you have actually tried to unstrap yourself from a violin case *in person*. If you haven't then you have no clue, and if you have no clue then you should just shut up.

Well, LOLOL
Some agent lady, thinking she's saying something about her perceptual skills but in he mean time doing the best imitation of the Hollywood style agent in the likes of "you aint good enough so kiss my a$$ honey, I would know I've sold people's acts that went better than the McDonald's franchise."

Great material for a take off, I hope it's not some lame publicity stunt to get people on the defensive as well. I hope that whatever her name wasn't serious. There's enough money going into really bad "entertainment" already.

I hope that Rachel continues to do better and that she has the opportunity to experience the beauty of music, which is why she decided to come back here perhaps.

benjamin wrote:

To all the boneheads:
Have you ever worn a violin case on your back? Not a rucksack or anything else, but a violin case.
I dare you to try this, it's nothing like a rucksack. It is rather difficult to unstrap a violin case because unlike rucksacks, violin cases are built very stiff and sturdy so they will protect their cargo.
In fact, I dare you to try getting out of the straps of a violin case on your back while somebody is holding on to it and dragging you. You'll find that it will be very difficult to get yourself out of the straps if you can do it at all.
I can tell because I wear my violin case on my back all the time when I go places with my violin. I always have to wiggle myself out of the straps.
In any event, your comments in this regard are totally unqualified UNLESS you have actually tried to unstrap yourself from a violin case *in person*. If you haven't then you have no clue, and if you have no clue then you should just shut up.

Yep. Can't say I've had a Violin case on my back, vs. a "Rucksack", but I still haven't landed underneath the Metra. That seems pretty hard to do..

Joe Blow wrote:

<quoted text>
Yep. Can't say I've had a Violin case on my back, vs. a "Rucksack", but I still haven't landed underneath the Metra. That seems pretty hard to do..

Well, I guess if you had been on the jury, then Rachel Barton would not have done quite as well as she had in the end. Long story short, the 12 jurors she happened to get found that Metra was mostly at fault, and thus Rachel got a judgment of blah, blah, blah.

So what's your point, Joe Blow? That you've never been run over by Metra and you can't contemplate that Metra could be negligent in a situation where somebody else has been? Congratulations.

I didn't say anything about who was at fault for the accident. I was referring to a self-confessed bonehead whose post suggested that Ms.Barton was deliberately not letting go of her violin case.

I was referring to the underlying notion of "This couldn't have happened to me because I'm smart, I would have let go of the violin case, she's not smart because she didn't let go, ergo she deserves what happened to her".

Accidents don't happen this way. Accidents happen because people find themselves in situations where they are out of control and overwhelmed by the events that are taking place leading to the accident.

It is easy to do a post mortem of an accident and say "if I had done this, it wouldn't have been so bad". By the time you do that, you have had enough time to think about everything but when the accident happened you didn't have the time to think, things happening faster than you could make well informed decisions before it was too late to react and avoid a bad outcome. Hindsight is 20/20.

As for who is ultimately responsible for that accident, I don't really have any opinion at all because I don't think anybody has enough information from reading a news article to pass judgement. No matter how detailed that news article might have been, it could not possible serve as a base for a judgement in a court case. Would you want to have your case judged based on a newspaper article? I wouldn't think so.

Maybe the jury was right, maybe they were wrong, I couldn't tell. But who are you to say you would be doing a better job than the court did where all you have done was reading a news article for 10 minutes while the court was probably deliberating for weeks over this case? There is a word for this type of haste in judgement: it's called prejudice.

The proceedings at court are designed to make a serious effort to try to avoid prejudice. It's not easy and it isn't always successful, but at least the courts are making the effort. Quite obviously the posters who concluded that they have figured out this case from 10 minutes of reading an article did not even try to make the effort. Armchair judges and armchair juries.

Yes, it would seem that the US has a need for tort reform, but that doesn't mean that there are no genuine cases and you can just dismiss every case as a matter of principle.

Last but not least, as tragic as this has been for Ms.Barton, for me personally, reading this article has had the effect that it made me aware that this could happen to me, too when I travel with my violin case on my back. I realised that if the case got caught in the doors and the train took off before I manage to unstrap, it would most likely drag me along until I get smashed against some obstacle along the way because once something is pulling on that case I'd be very unlikely to be able to unstrap. It's made me more careful as I benefit from the hindsight of others.

Barton-Pine is a phenomenon and a treasure. Her playing is on the highest level; this exceptional talent combined with her personal triumph over amazing odds should propel her to the stardom that the world actually needs. Those of us who are in the know are blessed to have heard her.

She is an amazing person and an amazing interpreter. Pity she's not better known, for she deserves to be better known. Fortunately she has made some fabulous cds -- like the Hungarian Concerto by Joachim paired with an also wonderful Brahms Concerto, the tribute to Maud Powell, Solo Baroque, or Instrument of the Devil. Wonderful, even if a times difficult, story and great reporting from a great Midwest newspaper. Congratulations! Hope you'll play in Mexico City!:)

This accident was tragic. As a professional musician this violin was more than an instrument - it was an extention of her body. To compare this to the acts of stupidity from others involved in Metra accidents is really absurd.

Think back to the accident of about three or four years ago near Thanksgiving. The actions of one woman who drove onto the tracks and got hit by a Milwaukee Road Northline train caused injury to many and the damage to multiple vehicles. Now that was stupid! When I heard that this female was going to sue Metra it was everything for me to not call her in the hospital and scream that it is Metra and the other riders on that train and subsequent trains that she delayed downtown who get to sur HER for valuable time lost from their lives because she could not wait until the gates were up. I was only restrained because it was Thanksgiving- one month later and I would have paid her a personal visit and made a phone call. Why she thinks she is entitled to compensation is not something reasonable people (jury) members should understand. Anyone who blatently goes around downed crossing gates does not have a right to remedy.

40 surgeries later wrote:

<quoted ext>
and people still are fighting this. Why can't you just accept the outcome that the jury found to be justified?
I suppose the government has never helped you?
You have never driven on our roads?(Do you think the gas tax pays for the cost of roads?)
OR You have never been to school ?(Hey, I don't have kids and many don't who do pay property tax)
Mean-spirited people, like yourself, are just showing their true colors.
I am so glad so many others have spoken up for Rachel.

Joe Blow wrote:

<quoted text>
What part of this is the part where the government services come into play?
I've even ridden the Metra a couple of times since I read this article, and still haven't managed to find myself underneath it. Craziness.

People are upset because the government has to pay her, and of course tax payers see this as coming from them indirectly.

But I am not sure if you are asking that (which you probably don't need me to point it out, but not sure if you were asking where the government comes in Rachel's settlement...sorry for being redundant).

As far as Metra goes, where is the government? Do you really think your ticket price pays for the cost of operating Metra (or other transportations, for that matter)?

Yes, we pay and we benefit from the government.

I'm frankly astounded at the negativity that some people have written about Ms. Pine. Any injury of the magnitude sustained by her is unfathomable. And the fact that she finds the strength to perform makes her the ideal role model in my book.
What I find absolutely outrageous are the cowardly anonymous allegations that Ms. Pine is difficult to work with, or that she is a "boring" violinist. As a conductor who performed with Rachel Barton Pine out of state DURING THE WEEK OF HER TRIAL, I can unequivocally say she was nothing but absolutely professional in every way, a joy to work with, and incredibly musically inspiring. And having performed with her again two years ago with the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, she was again nothing short of professional in every possible way, and even more musically inspiring. I would welcome any and every opportunity to work with this fabulous artist.

All I know is I haven't fell underneath the Metra. Still. That would be pretty hard to do..