Friday, January 21, 2011

Texting shopper who fell in mall fountain sues security guards for laughing

A woman who accidentally fell into a shopping mall fountain while texting on her mobile phone has spoken about the incident for the first time - and says she is suing. CCTV footage of Cathy Marrero failing to notice that she was walking straight into a pool of water became a YouTube hit after being watched by 1.7 million people.



But the 49-year-old, revealing her identity for the first time, says she doesn't find the video very funny and plans to take the mall in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania to court after accusing staff of laughing instead of helping her out of the water. Speaking of the moment she unwittingly took the plunge, she said: ‘I saw the water coming at me, I could see the pennies and nickels at the bottom of the fountain and then I was in it.'

Security surveillance showed Ms Marrero walking in a straight line while texting on her phone, oblivious to what was around her - or directly in front of her. The video was posted with commentary by what is believed to be laughing mall employees who watched the video over and over.


YouTube link.

Mrs Marrero said she was left mortified by the incident. ‘My issue is I don't think security was professional because they didn't send anyone to check on me until 20 minutes later and I had already left,’ she said.

12 comments:

Ratz said...

Silly cow, the only thing hurt was her pride. Perhaps she needs something like this: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/14/road-sms-encourages-you-to-text-while-walking/

Brixter said...

Hahaha. She deserved it. Hey, everybody has bad days. She just needs to laugh it off. I hope she loses big time.

Insolitus said...

Nobody would have known who the lady in the fountain was had she not started to make this fuss afterwards. Her embarrassment is her own fault and I hope her effort to get money out of this fails.

d6j6r6 said...

MY Lord! I wish she were my next door neighbor so I could laugh at her every morning."HI, YOU VAPID COW"

Zhoen said...

I just hope the judge laughs at her as well. When you fall on your face, and it's your own fault, don't go blaming others for laughing.

Anonymous said...

I wish the number of people I've been stuck behind in tube stations while they txt (or even read books) while oblivious to their surroundings (and other people) could also have a random pool slipped in front of them. There's a time and a place for everything.
Stupid cow.

Anonymous said...

She should be sued for negligence. It's a good thing she only fell in a shallow fountain instead of falling on a child or tripping an elderly person.

Mark said...

You have to be kidding! My first thought was exactly the same as Insolitus' - she's the one making the fuss by attempting to sue, and nobody would have known it was her if she had just kept her mouth shut and laughed it off like any normal person.

That said, I'm actually slightly surprised she's not suing the mall for putting the fountain in the middle of a walkway!

L said...

Nobody takes responsibility for their own stupidity anymore. And there's a lot of stupidity out there.

If she had been texting while driving and hit and killed a pedestrian, would she sue the dead guy for causing her emotional distress?

Dust off your pride and get over it, lady. There are so many more worse things out there to worry about; be grateful that falling in a fountain is all you have to deal with.

Allivymar said...

Gets even better. Apparently Ms. Genius is also in the process of being sued by her coworker after making $5,000 worth of unauthorized charges on the coworker's credit card and is currently free on bail.

Oh, and the security guard was fired. Shame really.

Insolitus said...

Allivymar, if you mean they fired the security guard who leaked the camera footage, then I think they kind of deserved it.

WordyGrrl said...

If she wins $ over this, I'm totally spending the weekend on YouTube looking for unidentifiable victims I can pretend to be so I can sue my way to wealth.

It's the American Way (tm)!