I got the impression from the press conference held at Yarrabee Farms that the Langs were genuinely shaken by the involvement of one of their employees. So aside from the fact success of a civil suit is totally speculative because of all that we don’t know, you might use the words “hold responsible” but let’s not kid ourselves - the underlying reason for filing civil suits involves bitterness.
Assuming the Tibbett family is not bitter and holds no animosity towards the farm because we don’t know that, another reason to not hold the farm “responsible” is because civil suits totally rip small communities apart at the seams (one against another, win or lose). They also prolong the healing process that everyone connected is presently faced with. These people go to church together, their children go to school together, they celebrate local occasions together. For all we know the history between the two families go back generations. You may not understand that as a valid reason but it’s an example of why most people pick and choose their battles carefully.
Immediately, post 9/11, I was in K-mart, and had an interaction with a young lady over toilet paper, of all things. And then I realized, that it was not just her, but everyone. Everyone was looking to touch out, and find solidarity with the people they met. We all felt a common threat, and we were all looking for someone to stand beside to face it.
Before Pearl Harbor, my father was an electrical linesman in New Orleans. Because of his trade, he could not be drafted, as his craft was too vital for the infrastructure that was needed to build the manufacturing necessary for the war effort. After Pearl Harbor, US Navy officers came to the press gang yard where everybody showed up in the morning to get hired (and you wonder why we have unions). The officers were recruiting trained workers for a new outfit, The Navy Seabees. Rather than sending civilian contractors into combat zones, the Navy had the nutso idea to take the same workers, teach them how to fight, and send them in to do the work, but trained to fight back in an organized way if attacked. My Dad did not have to volunteer, but because of the way that this country felt after Pearl Harbor and 9/11 and MT's death, he signed up on the spot. He wanted to go do something, to do his small part against the coming storm. The backside of his story is that the Navy took a linesman who could work all day in 90 degree heat and 100% humidity, and sent him to the Pacific theater. Not the hot part, but the Aleutian Islands up near Siberia. The only place the Japanese actually landed troops in "America".
My point is that when these devastating occurances happen, we all look to stand to together. It is a primal thing, from a time when we used to sleep in trees, and huddle together for safety.
JMO
