In the wake of yesterday’s post on the anti-caffeine fatwa from the mayor of Shaker Heights, Ohio, all sorts of people wrote in from Ohio to point out that, despite its wholesome name (yes, yes, the Shakers were a bit odd, but you know what I mean) and Reddish state location, the Heights is a PC lair filled with frothing “crunchies” (sorry, Rod), “advocates” and worse. One luckless resident of the Heights asked me to pray for him (I will, but I’m not sure about my influence upstairs) and drew my attention to its high taxes, high spending and to this grim little tale:
“When a huge icicle fell off his Shaker Heights house in December and sliced open Jim Gibson’s lip, he drove himself to the emergency room rather than call 9-1-1. Gibson was worried that his insurance company would drop him if he called a Shaker Heights ambulance, because the Fire Department bills insurance for that service. In May, 2005, six months before the icicle accident, Gibson’s son had caused a fender-bender auto accident on Van Aken Boulevard. The accident happened three months after the Police Department began billing insurance companies for its services at traffic accidents, no matter how routine. When Gibson’s insurance company received a $285 bill for police services provided at the scene of his son’s accident, it refused to pay, saying the city’s taxpayers are responsible for those services. The police department, through its collection agency, threatened to collect its fee from Gibson, but to date that hasn’t happened. However, when Gibson cut his lip six months later, he reasoned that using city services again so soon by calling 9-1-1 might lead his insurance company to cancel his policy. “
The Mayor ought, it seems, to be worrying about more than coffee.