This evening the local news featured a piece on several class action lawsuits that you, too, can “get in on.” The reporter mentioned that you probably should have actually purchased said products, which ranged from sunscreen to dog food to just about anything from Trader Joe’s, but the tone and message of the piece was “hey folks, these companies are giving out free money so hop on board and get your piece of the pie.”

Over and over the amounts that people could claim, without any receipts, flashed across the screen. The way they presented it made it sound like free money. I can imagine a person who is pinching pennies might think, “these companies don’t know whether or not I actually bought their product, so what would it hurt to make a claim?” After all, twenty dollars here and thirty-five dollars there can really make a difference when your family is struggling.

What are these suits about, anyway? Well, the dog food suit actually stemmed from some harm coming to some pets. That doesn’t sound unreasonable, but why open it up to just anyone who claims to have bought the food? Then there was the one from the fancy flip flop company. Apparently they claimed some health benefits that they shouldn’t have. Really, people? You’re going to sue a flip flop company because your feet still have issues after wearing flip flops? How is this sane? It’s like the person suing McDonald’s after spilling hot coffee. Coffee is supposed to be hot, isn’t it? You just have to be careful and use some common sense.

I believe we’re too quick to look for blame and to try to get something for nothing. I didn’t buy that sunscreen. I won’t put in a claim for the eight dollars or whatever it was, even if I don’t need a receipt. I know easy money is hard to pass up, but Karma’s a bitch, so I don’t mess with it. Do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Is the world black and white? I don’t think so. You need to feed your babies, you need to keep safe, but do you really need twenty dollars from Trader Joe’s because they may have mislabeled some of their products? I doubt it.