The strength of local animal rights sentiment is not the only reason the event takes place in Pamplona as opposed to Pompano Beach:
…Can you imagine if it were held in America, instead of Spain?
…The running of the bulls would be followed by the running of the plaintiffs lawyers, as they clamor to represent injured parties who, honest your honor, had no idea that such an event could be hazardous to their health. Surely those hold harmless agreements signed by the participants do not absolve public officials of their responsibility to protect people from putting themselves in harm’s way, the class action lawsuit would allege.
(Paul D. Winston, “America not yet ready for running of the bulls”, Business Insurance, Jul. 23).
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Americans somehow got confused between the “Running of the Bulls” and the “Constant Running of Bullsh*t”. We appear no longer able to tell them apart.
Of course, if we had the running of the bulls in the US, just think of the opportunities that exist for corporate sponsorship: Merril Lynch, Red Bull, and Advil come to mind.
Besides, those animals are big; they’ve got plenty of space to add corporate logos!
I visit fiesta in Pamplona on yearly basis, and if you are a literate tourist, you simply cannot miss the ubiquitous warnings about hazards that running with the bulls poses. They’re everywhere, including tourist information office and are in four languages, English included, together with information on how to behave and prevent injuries in case you DO participate in encierro (the running). Yet somehow most of the injured parties every year come from USA and Australia.
Of course, racing neck and neck with the lawyers would be the other federal agencies wanting to put their particular imprint on the event. I’m sure the OSHA folks would be mandating a necessary modicum of protective equipment; enough padding and helmets that it would look like the bulls were chasing deranged michelin men. The EEOE would have to make sure the bulls were friendly to handicapped persons, perhaps by replacing the roads with wheelchair-friendly rubber matting and speed-governors on the bulls themselves. And making sure all the proper percentages of minorities were involved in the event … perhaps this could even be extended to make sure the bulls are properly represented, a certain number of Angus and Herefords, filing paperwork in triplicate to insure the Brahmans are not using their popular appeal to take employment positions away from the traditionally underrepresented Beefmaster bulls. [And look at that last word: bulls! It’s inherently dicriminatory against cows, which might be just as eager to gore a human as their male counterparts.]
I can’t believe plaintiffs’ lawyers are actually saying this!
Oh, wait. They’re not.