Fear of the Winged Cougar

An Illinois pops is suing on behalf of his son. On July 13, sonny was flying solo to Orlando on Southwest Airlines. A suit filed in Cook County District Court alleges the 14-year-old boy's drunk/drugged cougar seatmate made him very, very uncomfortable with repeated offers of good times at a bad time. Pops places the damages to his son at $50,000 (less ambulance chasing attorney fees, of course).

Interestingly, the father believes the fault for the discomfort — he claims his son visited the lavatory four times to escape the advances and wouldn't fly his return trip alone — lies with the airline, not with the woman. That couldn't have anything to do with deeper pockets, could it?

It's certainly wonderful that father is standing by son; and good for the son to recognize that what is easy doesn't mean it is right. However, is "sue the bastards" really the best lesson for father to teach son about dealing with difficult people and situations?