quotables / the sweet hereafter

"and then there were those folks who wanted to believe that the accident was not really an accident, that it was somehow caused, and that, therefore, someone was to blame. was it dolores's fault? a lot of people thought so. or was it the fault of the state of new york for not replacing the guardrail out there on the marlowe road? was it the fault of the town highway department for having dug a sandpit and let it fill with water? what about the seat belts that had tied so many of the children into their seats while the rear half of the bus filled with icy water? was it the governor's fault, then, for having generated legislation that required seat belts? who caused the accident anyhow? who can we blame?"
(just like it)

"...some bungling corrupt state agency or some multinational corporation that's cost-accounted the difference between a ten-cent bolt and a million-dollar out-of-court settlement and has decided to sacrifice a few lives for the difference. they do that, work the bottom line; I've seen it play out over and over again, until you start to wonder about the human species. they calculate ahead of time what it will cost them to assure safety versus what they're liekly to be forced to settle for damages when the missing bolt sends the bus over a cliff, and they simply choose the cheaper optoin. and it's up to people like me to make it cheaper to build the bus with that extra bolt, or add the extra yard of guardrail, or drain the quarry. that's the only check you've got against them. that's the only way you can ensure moral responsibility in this society. make it cheaper."
(scary. also, this guy's voice is very lawyerly, very different than the other chars. nice diversity)

"it just wasn't right - to be alive, to have had what people assured you was a close call, and then go out and hire a lawyer; it wasn't right."
(different voice. all his characters are very morally definable. also, this is how I felt after our crash in ohio)

"at that moment, I hated my parents more than I ever had. I hated them for all that had gone before - daddy for what he knew and had done, and mom for what she didn't know and hadn't done - but I also hated them for this new thing, this awful lawsuit. ...why couldn't they just stand up like good people and say to mr. stephens, 'no, forget the lawsuit. we'll get by somehow on our own. it's too harmful to too many people. goodbye, mr. stephens. take your law practice back to new york city, where people like to sue each other.'"
(good. true.)

"they were all sitting in the living room watching television together, like a good american family - it was the simpsons, which was the one show the whole bunch of them thought was funny. me, I can't stand that show; it's insulting."
(this is just for me. glad someone [even a fictional someone] gets it, too)