Gwendolyn is at the furniture store looking for a new bed. Because the store is advertising sale prices, the place is crowded.

Gwendolyn especially likes the king sized four-poster bed with the canopy. But there’s a pesky little boy running around the store, jumping on furniture and darting up one aisle and down another. He’s very annoying to the customers.

The owner tells the kid to go to his mother, but the boy ignores the owner and keeps on running. The kid must have had an overdose of sugar for breakfast.

The lady shopping for a new bed is apparently ready to make her selection. Just as she strolls over to an aisle to hail a salesman, the little boy comes zooming by, directly in her path. She trips over the kid’s foot and falls flat on her face.

Realizing that the woman’s ankle is very likely broken, the owner of the store calls an ambulance. At the hospital, x-rays confirm that Gwendolyn’s right ankle is fractured in two places.

After spending weeks in a walker, plus three times a week therapy sessions, she puts aside her crutches. But still, she’s unable to return to her early morning jogging sessions. A brisk walk is the best she can do.

Enter the family lawyer. Without going into a multitude of details about the litigation, let’s cut to the end of the trial when the jury returns with a verdict in favor of the plaintiff (Gwendolyn), awarding damages amounting to $600,000.

The jury gets the whole story. The furniture store guy explains about his warnings to the kid that went unheeded. But the clincher is probably Gwendolyn’s testimony about the pain she still endures. She even manages to squeeze out a few tears while on the witness stand.

Now, I’m inclined to agree with the furniture store owner — $600,000 is a lot of money for a broken ankle! Especially when you consider that the kid Gwendolyn tripped over was her very own, unrestrained little boy.