Reflections on my recent trip to South Africa: There are no construction defect suits for tin shacks.

Upon visiting Soweto, outside of Johannesburg, and  Guguletu, later when I returned to Cape Town, I witnessed first hand the abject poverty suffered by millions of individuals and families in South Africa.  What I came away with was that if you live in a tin shack and have to worry daily regarding the health and safety of your family, you have bigger problems than whether the exterior synthetic stone on your house lacks adequate clearance from your heated driveway.  Seeing how people live in these townships certainly puts things into perspective.  I do not think that the experience made me any less empathetic to people who suffer from true construction defects, but I do believe I will be less tolerant in the future of homeowners who claim that having only four nails per shingle on their roof instead of six has ruined their lives.