I heard recently of a situation in which a young boy, whilst participating in a snowball fight with his friends, received a serious eye injury from a high velocity snowball. The young boy would never again be able to see out of the affected eye. Because of pricy medical procedures necessary for a healthy partial recovery, and perhaps a prosthetic eye, the parents of the boy sued the parents of the boy who delivered the injury.
My first reaction to this situation was that justice was served. However, after thinking it through, I concluded otherwise. It is true that you shouldn't hit people in they eyes with snowballs, but I think that by participating in what is obviously a precarious activity, you accept by default the risks associated with that activity.
Many organized sports require participants to sign waivers for liability purposes. What is on paper is legally binding. But spontaneous, unorganized activities such as snowball fights, water fights, pillow fights, arm wrestles, foot races, and various "night games," have no such contracts. To ask someone to sign a waiver before participating in a snowball fight with you says to the signer that you are not looking for a happy, fun fight. If that person signs the waiver, you can pack the snowball as hard as you want, and you can throw the snowball as hard as you want. I wouldn't sign it. I would discontinue my friendship with that person.
Because it is not realistic for humankind to have a waiver for every spontaneous but potentially dangerous activity we voluntarily expose ourselves to, our society should accept as legally-binding the contracts of social protocol and common sense, i.e., if you wish not to get hit by a snowball, participate not in snowball fights.
—Drew
P.S. New problem arising from this solution: defining common sense.
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