You may have heard about the judge who sued a dry-cleaning shop for $67 million over a lost pair of pants. Despite another judge denying that claim, AP reports that the dry-cleaning shop has closed anyway, citing a loss of revenue and the emotional strain of defending the suit. Thus, without even gaining a victory, the customer-judge has achieved the desired effect of shutting down the business.

Dealing with the government sometimes sounds like my high school physics professor’s oversimplification of the laws of thermodynamics (we skipped Law 0):

  1. You can’t win.
  2. You can’t break even.
  3. You can’t even quit playing the game.

Defamation suit, anyone?