I mentioned in my previous post that I had planned to take mom out on Lake Las Vegas for her mother’s day present, but had to change our plans. What stopped me was the waiver form they wanted me to sign. Here is a copy of the actual waiver part of the form:
Now I get that they are trying to cover all the bases and preclude me from coming after them for damages whatever happens. And I actually didn’t have any problem with signing this part of the form. I did cringe every time I read the third paragraph: the person writing this apparently has never heard of the importance of Parallel Structure:
Rule
Balance parallel ideas in a series
Description
Readers expect items in a series to appear in parallel grammatical form. When one or more of the items violates readers’ expectations, a sentence will be needlessly awkward.
Examples
Not Parallel
Sam is responsible for stocking merchandise, writing orders for delivery, and sales of computers.
Parallel
Sam is responsible for stocking merchandise, writing orders for delivery, and selling computers.
https://iup.edu/writingcenter/writing-resources/grammar/parallel-structure/
I do think it’s odd that in the paragraph 1 they don’t seem to mention electric boats, the very thing I was trying to rent, but perhaps I am just missing something. At any rate, I would gladly have signed this part of the waiver and taken my chances with underwater mines, packs of rabid coyotes, or whatever else man or nature could throw at me while I was on the lake for my two hours. What I couldn’t consent to was this last paragraph on the form:
As far as I can see, as soon as this is signed I have given them the enumerated rights for the rest of my life, anywhere, anytime. Note it does not say anything about only recording while I am using their equipment or while I am on the Lake. To me it just says that from now until eternity I have given them permission to basically do whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want with my name, likeness, etc. for any “lawful” purposes.
And what the heck does “biographical material” mean? Name, address, telephone number, height, weight, name of my first dog, social security number? Who knows; the release form certainly doesn’t say.
I have a friend who had to deal with a stalker for years. No way would I expect them to take a chance on having their name much less any other information thrown out into the public for all to see.
And now you know why I won’t be renting any equipment from Vegas Aqua any time soon. Not until they spend as much time assuring me about my privacy issues as they do covering their own a—-, I mean concerns.
Tuples and Attributes 